Still No Plea In Evergreen Bear Cub Shooting Case

GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - An Evergreen man facing felony charges after the deadly shooting of two bear cubs was back in court on Friday.

Daniel Williams is charged with shooting the cubs in his yard in September, and his hearing in Jefferson County Court on Friday morning was largely procedural. Williams has yet to enter a plea in the case.

Williams faces felony charges of illegal discharge of a firearm and aggravated cruelty to animal after the Sept. 1 incident.

Deputies responded to a report of shots fired just after 5 a.m. in the 27000 block of Lupine Drive. When they arrived they found two seriously injured bear cubs. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers were called and the cubs had to be euthanized.

Williams allegedly told deputies he had shot rubber bullets at the bears to scare them away from his trash. But then his dog got loose and started fighting with the mother bear and he shot a live bullet and hit both of the cubs.

The mother bear ran across the street and into a tree and remained there all day.

"It's not just two bear cubs," said Rhonda Dern, a neighbor of Williams, on Friday. "It's a family bears that live in our neighborhood that we loved watching and watching grow up and his disrespect for them is just heartbreaking."

Williams faces a possible four year prison term in the case. He's scheduled to be back in court on Jan. 25.

Williams declined CBS4's requests for an interview at the courthouse on Friday.