SALISBURY — No one should ever have to bury their child.

Unfortunately for Nicole Beckham, that nightmare became a reality last Friday night when her 14-year-old son, Brion “BJ” Grier, was gunned down near North Fulton Street in Salisbury.

Beckham had been out with her son, and upon returning home, BJ asked to go to a nearby basketball court with some friends. Not long after saying goodbye to BJ, Beckham heard a series of gunshots. She tried calling BJ, who did not answer. About an hour later, local law enforcement arrived at her West Cemetery Street residence to tell her that BJ was in the hospital with a gunshot wound. The teen would succumb to his injuries later that evening.

“I want justice for him,” Beckham said on Thursday. “It’s not fair what happened.”

The Salisbury Police Department is actively investigating the homicide although no arrests have been made as of this writing.

BJ was just a kid. He attended Southeast Middle School, played sports and dreamed of going to college to be a lawyer.

“BJ was a good kid,” Beckham said. “He was silly, and he was goofy.”

Passionate about sports, BJ’s biggest goal for the school year was to play quarterback for the Patriots.

“Football was one of his favorite sports,” Beckham said. “He was also talking about track. He was going to show out for track. He is really, really fast.”

According to his mother, BJ’s favorite football player was Lamar Jackson, and as such, he rooted for the Baltimore Ravens, even if that did not sit well with his friends and family who like the Panthers. They did move to Salisbury from Charlotte, after all.

Beckham said that BJ had started to grow a little facial hair, as some early bloomers tend to do at that age and that they would tease him about his mustache. Much like other teenage boys, BJ also had a big appetite.

“He liked everything,” Beckham said. “He loved KFC and Salsaritas. That might be one of his favorites. He loved to eat, and he liked seafood.”

However, unlike many kids his age, BJ had a unique taste in music.

“He liked ’90s music,” Beckham said. “Those were some of his favorites like Dr. Dre, Tupac and Snoop Dogg. I have a video of him rapping Ice Cube’s ‘Today Was a Good Day.'”

Beckham indicated that, along with other memories of her son, she would cherish that video of her son forever. Moments like those encapsulated BJ’s youthful silliness and love for life. He was a brother to three sisters. As siblings do, they argued from time to time, but Beckham said that they loved each other and that BJ would send his eldest sister, 22, funny photos and videos all the time.

Since BJ was killed, Beckham said they have received an outpouring of support from faculty and staff at Southeast Middle.

“He had so much love from the teachers, principal and track coach,” Beckham said.

While she knows it won’t bring her son back, Beckham prays that BJ’s killer will be brought to justice. For now, she will hold fast to the positive memories and the time they got to share before it was so tragically cut short.