BATTLEMENT MESA, Colo. -- The father of a 9-year-old boy killed in a shooting last week said his son was made to beg for his life before a 14-year-old acquaintance fired a shot into his chest.

Speaking after a memorial service Saturday, Bill DeMarco said his son Taylor's best friend witnessed the shooting.

According to the friend, the suspect had been picking on Taylor the day of the shooting. After some older kids left, the suspect went home to retrieve a gun from under his mother's bed, DeMarco said.

The suspect, a neighbor of the victim, was being held in a juvenile detention facility in Grand Junction on suspicion of manslaughter, felony menacing, reckless endangerment, possession of a handgun by a juvenile, prohibited use of a weapon and resisting arrest.

Authorities are still investigating the motive and are deciding whether to charge the youth as an adult, said Bill Middleton of the Garfield County Sheriff's Office.

Law-enforcement patrols have been increased in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred after threats of retaliation were made during a hearing Thursday. DeMarco had to be held back by deputies while the suspect was hurried out the back door.

After the memorial service for the victim, young skateboarders did ollies and other tricks off the steps at Bea Underwood Elementary School, bringing Taylor's parents to tears.

"He'd have put those 'boarders to shame out there," DeMarco said after talking about a conversation he and his son had the night before his death about heaven having awesome skate parks.

Taylor was cremated with his arms wrapped around a skateboard.

The boy's mother, Wendi Robyn, said her son's death has left her numb.

"It's unbelievable pain," she said.