Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Teens sentenced to life in prison in Battle Mountain killings

Kyle Ray and Colby Becker, both 15 at the time, took turns shooting the .22 caliber rifle at Ray's family in their home on May 30, 1998.

Ray was given four life sentences on Monday for shooting his mother, Kim, and 12-year-old sister Jennifer. He will be eligible for parole in 80 years.

Becker was given two life sentences for shooting his friend's father, James Ray. He will be eligible for parole in 40 years.

Neighbors said Kyle Ray was physically abused by his parents, but neither youth offered any real motive for the killings, investigators said.

Kyle Ray "said he did it out of anger, because mom didn't let him do stuff," said Phil Brown of the Nevada Division of Investigation.

T.J. Bamford, a brother of Kim Ray and uncle of Kyle Ray, urged Judge Richard Wagner to sentence Kyle Ray to life in prison with no chance of parole.

"Looking at you, I don't see no remorse. I'd like to know why?" Bamford told Kyle Ray during the sentencing hearing Monday in Lander County District Court.

Judge Wagner told Ray during sentencing he should "spend the rest of your life trying to make amends for what you have done.

"These people are very fine people you killed. That is something you are going to have to live with for the rest of your life," he said.

Wagner said, and while there was testimony Ray was abused by his parents, "I have no understanding why Kyle would kill his 12-year-old sister."

"There has not been what appears to me an apparent remorse, an apparent response to what has occurred," Wagner said. "We have started down a road with our young people that gives you grave cause for concern."

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