Seventeen-year-old Elias Yanez was remembered by his mother as someone who helped others and was ready to enlist in the Army to defend his country.

Since Elias was a little boy, his mother Luisana Yanez says she always knew there was something special about her son.

“He was my favorite, and everybody knows it,” she said. “His brother sometimes would be like, ‘Why?’ But it was just always something about him because he was very stubborn, but in a way that it made you respect his opinion.”

The mother of three says her son shined on the basketball court and loved music but planned to follow in the family tradition of serving in the Army.

“He’s supposed to change the world. That’s what he’s meant to be. Like, he was born to do something great,” she said.

Elias and his best friend Kane Roldan, 15, were shot and killed at a Halloween party on Friday night in Chula Vista. Police investigators are only saying an argument triggered the shooting.

Though his mother is unclear on exactly what happened, from what she’s heard, she fears her son’s nature to do the right thing and help protect others overshadowed what she’s tried to teach him.

“You can’t always be the hero of everything. I guess there was an argument with one of the other boys, and he went into defend or to fight,” Luisana said.

The family of Kane Roldan are remembering him after he was killed at a Halloween Party in Chula Vista on Halloween night, reports NBC 7’s Kelvin Henry.

As a memorial continues to grow outside Elias’ Palm City home, his little sister Daniella continues to grieve over the last picture they took together the day he died. He was teaching her to ride the trolley.

Grief is also taking its toll on his mother, who was out of town for Army Reserve basic training when the shooting happened.

“You must pay your consequences, and, you know, I’m paying mine because I wasn’t here, and we let him go,” she said.

As the grieving mother sits in her home, surrounded by her son’s scholarship and achievement awards, she wonders why Daniel Garcia, the suspected 18-year-old gunman, stole a life with so much promise.

“My son can’t get another chance. This kid’s not going to get another chance. And it’s like, you’ve ruined your life for what? It’s not worth it,” Luisana said.

Garcia is scheduled to make his first court appearance on two counts of murder Wednesday.