'Sacrificed his life for everyone ... to be shot point blank,' victim's family says at parole hearing

SALT LAKE CITY — Colton James Beed says he was a "dumb young kid" and "high out of (his) mind" when he agreed to meet others at a Salt Lake City home to rob a known marijuana dealer.

But when the group got to the home, believing the alleged dealer was out of town, they didn't realize that a housemate would still be there. By the end of the night, 26-year-old Mason Hunt, who had served in the U.S. Marine Corps with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was shot and killed after being called to help.

LauraKay Hunt, Mason's sister, says she doesn't want to hear Beed's excuse that it "sucks" he was high and made a bad choice.

"What sucks is the young girl who had to hide in the bathroom while a gang of men ransacked her house and she feared for her life. What sucks is that my brother came home to a gang of men going against him, and when he had them in a headlock because he was stronger than them, they shot him point blank. That's what sucks," Hunt told the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole on Tuesday. "He had sacrificed his life for everyone in here to be shot point blank. And the excuse is, 'I made a bad choice and I was high.'"

On Jan. 12, 2019, Beed agreed to meet others outside a home at 359 N. Star Crest Drive (1840 West) so the group could break in and rob a known dealer. What the group didn't know was that a woman who also lived in the house was still home.

She heard someone pounding on the door and looked through a window and saw two males, one wearing a ski mask, police say. The woman ran upstairs and hid in a bathtub and tried to quietly call 911. When her call didn't connect, she called Mason Hunt, another housemate.

The burglars initially left the house after not finding any drugs, but returned after circling the block to look again. While they were there the second time, Hunt returned to his house. He was able to grab one of the intruders and put him in a headlock. That's when someone came up to Hunt and fatally shot him.

Four males, including a boy who was 17 at the time, were all charged as adults in connection with the crime. Beed, who was originally charged with murder, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced to a minimum of five years and up to life in the Utah State Prison for his conviction on aggravated burglary.

On Tuesday, Beed, now 27, went before the Board of Pardons for the first time.

He told the board that he made a "poor and dumb" decision that night to participate in the burglary with people he claimed he didn't even know.

"I'm feeling deeply ashamed for being involved with that," he told the board in a recording of the hearing. "Made a dumb decision one night and can't take it back."

But LauraKay Hunt, who has spoken at parole hearings for Beed's codefendants — two of whom have previously been granted parole — asked the board to consider whether Beed is really rehabilitated and ready to be released.

"I'm so mad because I'm so sick of this, because guess what? This does suck," she said, while noting that her brother didn't even want to live in the house because his housemate was dealing marijuana. "(Beed) didn't know my brother. OK. But everyone should know that he was an extraordinary man who literally was killed protecting someone else, after returning home from war protecting all of us."

Adding to the family's frustration, there are still unanswered questions about who actually pulled the trigger that killed Mason Hunt. Because of that, Cindy Hunt, Mason's mother, told the board that her family doesn't have closure.

During the hearing, Cindy Hunt encouraged Beed to "find courage and integrity moving forward."

"These are the things that will change your life for good. I don't feel that you've had that," she said, while also implying that there's a weight Beed is holding inside him that is like an "infection that will continue to grow" unless he does something about it.

"We have no knowledge of who's really responsible, and that leaves a hole. Again, I encourage you to find personal integrity that will change your life," she said.

In response, Beed acknowledged the family's lack of closure and apologized for his role in the crime, but said he does not know the identity of the gunman. However, he claimed to the board that he "know(s) for a fact" that the person who pulled the trigger is not incarcerated.

"I'm really ashamed of what happened and I can't take that back," Beed said. "I do not know who (shot Mason). I really don't. I really wish I could offer you closure. ... I do not know the person who did shoot your son."

The full five-member board will now vote on whether to grant parole or set a date for another hearing.

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