Mother says son is 'very remorseful' over shootings

Beverly Griswold's son, Colby Becker, is one of two 15-year-olds charged in the May 30 shootings. He and Kyle Ray are accused of using a .22-caliber rifle to shoot Ray's parents, James, 42, and Kimberly, 37, and his sister, Jennifer, 12, at their home.

"He's very remorseful. He's very, very sad," Mrs. Griswold told the Battle Mountain Bugle. "He's very sorry for what's happened.

"He is scared, he's crying. I don't think he understands what's going on."

The boys' preliminary hearing, originally set for Tuesday, has been postponed until July 7. Each remains in Lander County Jail on three murder charges and a conspiracy to commit murder charge.

Mrs. Griswold, who recently moved to Nampa, Idaho, because of a job change, said the crime devastated and shocked her.

She said her son has told her nothing about what happened that night, but she and her family intend to stand by him.

"We are going to support him one hundred and fifty percent," she said.

Mrs. Griswold denied claims by former neighbor Keith Stevens that both boys had a troubled home life and history of running away. There was never any indication of a problem, she insisted.

"We're a very happy family. There are no family problems," she said, adding she and her son belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Battle Mountain.

Her son has a lot of friends and didn't hang out a lot with Ray, she said. The two families didn't know each other.

"(My son) is very smart, very humorous, very loving, very caring," Mrs. Griswold said. "He's a little comedian. He's always smiling, always happy."

Authorities allege Becker shot James Ray and Kyle Ray shot his mother and sister. They said the shootings may have been preceded by an argument between the Ray boy and his mother.

Rumors that the boys also intended to do harm to Becker's parents are "absolutely untrue," Mrs. Griswold said.

Battle Mountain is located along Interstate 80 about 220 miles east of Reno.

archive