AL-Tarrek Bell, an 18-year-old North Carolina native who was visiting family in Edgewater Park, New Jersey, sacrificed his own life to save a boy when someone fired shots. The incident took place on March 27 while Bell was sitting in the back seat of a car with his girlfriend’s 10-year-old nephew.

Someone at the apartment opened fire just after midnight, killing Bell and the driver, 25-year-old Sadiel Gonzales, 6ABC reported. The 10-year-old, however, was not injured because Bell shielded him. 

“Thank God my son was there to protect the little boy in the back seat,” Bell’s mother, Izetta Howell, said. “For him to save his life, that meant the world to me even though my son is gone; but just to know that my son had a heart of gold, it makes it even better to deal with.”

The heroic teenager, who planned to celebrate his birthday later this month and then graduate from high school, was focused on his many dreams.

Al-Tarrek Bell gave his life to protect a ten-year-old boy in a shooting in New Jersey last Saturday. https://t.co/WxyYtYO896
pic.twitter.com/ggwhnIfaCj

— Curious Reporter (@ReporterCurious) April 2, 2021

“He wanted to become a model. He loved playing football, he always dreamed about going to the NFL,” Howell said.

Bell, who is remembered as a “beautiful spirit,” planned to leave his hometown of Skinnersville, North Carolina, and move to Los Angeles or Chicago, the Courier-Post reported. 

“He had so many goals,” the teen’s mother said, adding that her son sang, rapped and played drums with a high school band. “He started writing his music, he started to record. He just never got his chance.”

Bell also worked in construction and at a hotel.

“He was all about going to school, all about making money at his jobs,” Howell said. “He was about to do major things.”

And the young man’s appearance was important to him, according to his mother.

“He loved his dreads and he always looked fine,”  she said.

The grieving mother believes that her son is now in heaven. She also takes solace in remembering his smile.

“When he would come to school, his smile would light up the whole school,” Howell said. “Now, when I walk outside, his smile lights up the sky and that makes me feel good.”

Jackie Santiago, the 10-year-old’s mother, is just as grateful for the teen’s sacrifice.

“I love him, and I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever forget him ever. And I will make sure that his name lives on as the hero that he was,” she said. 

Police haven’t announced an arrest in the case but the family is determined to find justice for their loved one and to continue speaking out against gun violence. 

“With these guns, they need to put them down,” Howell said. “When we were growing up, people used their hands, they used their emotions. Now, they don’t have the fight in them, they don’t have the heart, and they’d rather shoot at people.”

Howell’s friend, Diane Daniels Hill, started a GoFundMe account to help cover the funeral expenses.

“No mother should know what it feels like to have to bury their child please pray for her and her family during this horrible time,” Hill wrote.