it didn't even make any sense to me. >> reporter: in arkansas, jim and anne kelly learned the news from their son. >> that's just the worst news that a mother could ever hear. >> how does your brain process that information? >> i don't think you do. i couldn't process the shooting part, i guess. it was just that she was gone. and a part of me died the day she died. >> just kept saying, not debby, not debby, not deb. >> reporter: debbie's parents flew to san antonio, to spend time with lars, to support him in their shared grief. >> he could hardly talk. he seemed extremely remorseful. >> was he saying everything that you would wanna hear? like, i messed, i did it, i'm sorry? >> apologized profusely for it and said it was just an accident. it was dark. >> some people might be really angry but you didn't go down that road?