Parents of Christian Glass attend first court appearance of accused killers
Former Clear Creek County Sheriff's Deputy Andrew Buen and Former Clear Creek County Sheriff's Sergeant Kyle Gould stood before a judge Monday morning in Clear Creek County, with Christian Glass's parents sitting behind them in the courtroom. Both Buen and Gould are facing preliminary charges in the death of Glass; Gould on negligent homicide charges, and Buen on murder charges.
The hearing itself was mostly procedural, planning the next meeting and making sure the case was progressing the way it should, and setting up the next court appearance on Jan. 30 at 11 a.m.
But for Simon and Sally Glass, this was the first moment they saw the men responsible for their son's death. They packed the courtroom benches with friends and family, all wearing pink.
"It's Christian's favorite color," the Glasses said in an interview after the hearing. "It's a reminder of him and something about him, he always wore pink shirts whenever he had to do weddings or funerals, or graduations, that was his thing,"
Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum explained the grand jury which made the initial indictments could have more on the way.
"It is possible that there could be more with regards to what the grand jury is doing right now," she said Monday.
That's something the Glass family is counting on.
"We really hope that everyone involved was held accountable. I know there are charges against two of them but we hope they all are accountable eventually."
"It's just inexcusable, they have got to be held accountable, it is so important for us, other parents in Colorado, it is just essential that this can not stand, it has to be dealt with. "
"It is a crime, failure to intervene, watching a bully committing a crime, they had a duty to say stop, and no one did."
Bodycam video from the night of June 10 and the morning of June 11 in Silver Plume shows several deputies open fire on Glass, 22, whose car had broken down. Glass was born in New Zealand to a New Zealander dad and British mom. He was reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis and was scared of the deputies that responded.
McCollum explained the reasoning behind the use of a grand jury in this case.
"The grand jury is used for multiple different reasons, one of them is to obtain a fair and impartial perception of the members of this community, we have four counties, our grand jury is made up of all four of those counties, and while the DA's office might have a certain mindset, we have to listen to what the residents of the community think."