Man Enters Plea Deal in 2022 Fatal Columbia Falls Stabbing

A 25-year-old man accused in the 2022 fatal stabbing of his sister’s boyfriend in Columbia Falls pleaded guilty Aug. 15 to an amended felony count of negligent homicide as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Zain Alexander Rayne Glass of Columbia Falls was charged with the crime in Flathead County District Court in September 2022 and pleaded not guilty to the charge more than a year later in February 2024 before Judge Robert Allison.

Shortly after Glass’s arrest almost two years ago, the defendant was deemed mentally unfit to enter a plea and was admitted to the Montana State Hospital where he was diagnosed with multiple disorders. He began a treatment plan and physicians conducted several fitness evaluations before he was transported to the Flathead County Detention Center almost a year later.

According to the plea agreement, the initial deliberate homicide charge has been amended to a felony count of negligent homicide. Glass’s public defenders Dianne Rice and Nick Aemisegger and Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner jointly recommend that the defendant be committed to the custody of the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) to be placed at the Montana State Hospital for 20 years with credit for time served.

During questioning from Aemisegger during the hearing, Glass revealed that on Sept. 21, 2022, he believed his sister was in danger when he stabbed Lukas Davis following a verbal argument he overheard in her bedroom in the house the two siblings shared with their mother. He said he had not intended to kill the victim.

Glass also told the court he had previously been bullied by Davis and he was concerned for his sister’s safety at the time of the incident. When the defendant approached the couple, he said Davis was about to punch him when Glass instinctively stabbed him. Glass admitted he learned later that she was not actually in danger.

Following the stabbing, he ran to the neighbor’s house to call 911 and urged law enforcement to help Davis, he said.

According to charging documents, Glass was arrested on Sept. 21, 2022 after his sister reported that he stabbed her boyfriend, following a verbal argument in her bedroom. When Davis exited the room, Glass was standing in the hallway and stabbed him.

Glass’s sister then locked him out of the house and called law enforcement and a Columbia Falls Police Department officer arrived to find Glass standing in the yard with a knife in his hand. After he was ordered to drop the knife, he was handcuffed. He later told detectives during an interview that the stabbing “was an accident,” records state.

Authorities found Davis with a knife wound to his abdomen, according to documents. He was transported to Logan Health, where he was pronounced dead.

Glass’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17 at 9 a.m.

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