Parents Speak Out After Son Punched, Killed In St. Cloud
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (WCCO) -- The parents of a young man attacked in an alley way say answers will help heal their broken hearts.
Colton Gleason, 20, of Greenfield, Minn. was attacked in an alley in St. Cloud Thursday night. He died from head trauma Friday.
"Your world becomes just darker and there are parts of you that are gone, that you can never replace, "said John Gleason, Colton's Dad.
Now, his parents hope a $1,000 will persuade someone to come forward.
"You see the littlest things that bring him back and you see it and the heartbreak is so great," John said.
John and Julie Gleason never imagined they would talk about their youngest son, Colton, in the past tense.
"He made people feel good about who they were and it's such a hard thing to think that now that's gone," John said.
His death has left a void in this family, amongst his friends and anyone who knew him.
"The longer you knew Colton the more painful this really is," said John.
His smile, his laugh, his love of sports, and the way he used to dance, Colton loved to have a good time. He spent the hours before his death with his parents, on a bike ride.
Colton left them as he always did, with a hug and a big I love you.
"We gave him a hug before he left and before he went to St. Cloud to visit his friends and that was the last time we got to talk to him," said Julie.
Colton was walking down this alley in St. Cloud with two friends last Thursday night, when a car full of people going the opposite direction stopped.
Police say someone got out of the car and punched him.
Colton fell to the ground, hitting his head. He never recovered from his injuries.
Finding closure will help his family heal.
"If you were in a car if you saw anything you can't settle for this you can't settle and say this is right by you not coming forward it's like yes, it's okay to be violent to another human being and do this," John said.
St. Cloud Police say descriptions of the suspect are so different that they're not releasing information about who they're looking for.
If you saw anything, you're urged to call St. Cloud police or Crime stoppers.
