CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. — The case against two former Clear Creek Sheriff's deputies charged in the shooting death of 22-year-old Christian Glass will continue.
The two attempted to have their indictment dismissed, but a judge denied the request earlier this month, ruling there is enough evidence to support the charges against them.
Both were back in court Monday morning as a judge reemphasized that the two will face trial.
It's been nearly a year since Christian was shot and killed on June 11, 2022 — his last moments captured on body camera video.
"Our son lost his life. The least we can do as parents is come up and support him, because I believe somehow he's still around," said Christian's mother, Sally Glass, as she fought back tears outside the courthouse Monday morning.
Christian's parents, Sally and Simon Glass, attended the criminal proceedings against the former deputies who were charged in connection to their son's death.
A grand jury indicted former deputy Andrew Buen on counts of second-degree murder, official misconduct and reckless endangerment. And former deputy Kyle Gould was indicted on counts of criminal negligent homicide and reckless endangerment, according to the indictment.
On the day of the incident, Christian had called for help after his car got stuck on an embankment. The indictment says the call Christian made to dispatch “would indicate to anyone listening that he was paranoid, hallucinating and/or delusional and experiencing a mental health crisis.”
The indictment says Christian was still showing signs that he was in the midst of a mental health crisis as Georgetown Police Chief Randall Williams tried to talk with him and coax him out of his vehicle. The other officers who arrived also tried to help him, according to the indictment.
But it says, which is evidenced by video obtained by Denver7, that Buen became verbally aggressive toward Glass. He and another deputy at one point called his shift supervisor, Sgt. Gould, but muted his body worn camera audio. After talking with Gould, he told Chief Williams that the decision had been made to get Glass out of his SUV.
“At that point, no one on the scene had made a determination that there was probable cause or reasonable suspicion that a crime had been committed or was being committed,” the indictment states.
It then says that deputies “escalated the encounter” with Christian to get him out of the vehicle. The indictment notes that Christian “at no time made any threats to any law enforcement.”
It was then that Buen broke out the front-passenger-side window, then shot six bean bag rounds into Christian. He and Williams then used Tasers on Christian, which the indictment says “caused Mr. Glass to scream in agony and panic.”
It says Christian took his rock knife “and swung it in various directions in a state of complete panic and self defense.”
When Williams tried to open the door, Christian swung the knife in his direction, the indictment says. That was when Buen shot Christian five times. He would die at the scene.
Both had attempted to have their indictment dismissed, but a judge threw out that request, calling the act, "malicious" and "intentional."
Buen and Gould were back in court Monday, where the judge reinforced that the case will proceed to trial.
"It was intentional, but when she used the word "malicious," it just, you know, it's like a stab wound to us," said Sally Glass.
Siddhartha Rathod, the Glass family's attorney, said even though two deputies have been indicted, he would like to see all seven of the officers who were present that night charged.
"All of the officers present there should have been charged with failure to intervene," said Rathod. "You know, we're not privy to the internal workings of why those decisions, whether they're coming or whether those decisions are made or not made."
Christian's parents say as difficult as it is to speak out, they will continue to do so until justice is served.
"They are a private family, but they are doing this for their son — to let the world know who their son was, to ensure the record is set straight about the murder of Christian and to ensure that the officers involved in Christian's murder are held accountable," added Rathod.
"I can tell you how incredibly hard it is to see those murderers in court. It's awful, and we have nightmares about it. It's so hard, but we're here for our son," added Sally Glass.
The next court date is set for June 21 at 1 p.m. at the Clear Creek County Courthouse.
