CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. — A Clear Creek County judge on Tuesday dismissed the case against the final law enforcement officer facing charges in the 2022 death of Christian Glass.
Glass was shot and killed in June 2022 while experiencing a mental health crisis.
Prosecutors initially charged all seven law enforcement officers who were at the scene when then-Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Buen shot and killed 22-year-old Glass, as well as a supervisor who was not present.
Buen was first tried in April 2024. The jury found him guilty of reckless endangerment, but deadlocked on the charge of second-degree murder. In a retrial in February, a jury found the former Clear Creek County deputy guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
Buen was sentenced to three years in the Department of Corrections (DOC) for a criminally negligent homicide charge and 120 days in jail for a reckless endangerment charge. The latter will run concurrently with the DOC charge.
Former Clear Creek County Deputy Kyle Gould pleaded guilty in November 2023 to ignoring his duty to report use of force and intervene. He was sentenced to two years of probation and a $1,000 fine. He was also barred from working in law enforcement or security in Colorado.
In exchange for Gould's guilty plea, the charges of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment were dropped.
Georgetown Marshal Randy Williams, Georgetown Police Officer Timothy Collins, Idaho Springs Police Officer Brittany Morrow, Colorado State Trooper Ryan Bennie, Colorado Division of Gaming Officer Christa Lloyd and Division of Gaming Officer Mary J. Harris were all charged with failure to intervene in November 2023. Williams was also charged with third-degree assault.
According to our partners at The Denver Post, charges were dropped against Lloyd and Harris in December 2024 "because the statute that mandates law enforcement officers intervene to prevent another officer from using unnecessary force doesn’t apply to gaming officers, according to court documents."
Charges were dropped against Collins, Morrow and Bennie in May after they accepted a plea deal.
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Charges dropped against 3 defendants charged in Christian Glass' death
As part of the plea agreement, the defendants had to complete critical incident training, which included learning about de-escalation techniques and working with individuals in a mental health crisis or undergoing trauma.
In addition, Morrow, Collins, and Bennie participated in a video that will be used in training law enforcement officers in Colorado and throughout the country.
In the video, the three discuss what went wrong that night, what they could have done better, and how this case has changed their lives.
"At the time we decided to do this, I didn't realize that it would be quite this unique or this novel," Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum told Denver7 at the time. "What we wanted to do was to find a way to bring something potentially good out of such a horrible and tragic circumstance."
- Watch the full training video below
On Tuesday, charges were dropped against former Georgetown Marshal Randy Williams, the final law enforcement officer facing charges in Glass's death.
Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum confirmed to Denver7 that the charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
McCollum said Williams "had different conditions compared to the other three officers." Under the plea deal, Williams completed 48 hours of community service and submitted an apology letter to the Glass family.
Since Williams is not remaining in law enforcement, according to the district attorney's office, there was no need for additional law enforcement training.
"We did this in consultation with the Glass family," McCollum told Denver7 on Tuesday. "This closes out all the cases in Christian Glass's death, so hopefully they can have some real closure."
The Glass family was awarded a historic settlement of $19 million from Clear Creek County, the State of Colorado, the Town of Georgetown, and the City of Idaho Springs in May 2023.
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