Landen Glass sentenced for killing girl in 2022 Raleigh Christmas Parade

The driver whose truck struck and killed an 11-year-old dancer in the Raleigh Christmas Parade will spend roughly eight months behind bars, and as he left the courtroom in handcuffs and tears, he told the girl’s family, “I’m terribly sorry.”

Landen Glass, who was 20 when his truck’s brakes failed in the 2022 parade, stood and apologized in a quiet voice, telling Hailey Brooks’ family, “I know there are no words I can say to tell you how sorry I am. ... If there was any way I could go back and change things, I would.”

Glass, who was sentenced Monday, pleaded guilty Friday to felony obstruction of justice, misdemeanor death by vehicle and dangerous weapon at a parade. Prosecutors stressed that Glass had been previously cited for failing to follow safety guidelines, calling Brooks’ death preventable — not an accident.

“I don’t know why you ignored your safety requirements,” said Hailey’s father, Trey Brooks, in a victims’ impact statement Monday. “It seems to me they were inconvenient to your modifications.”

Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway handed down 262 days of active jail time for the three charges combined, the maximum allowed, adding three years of supervised probation and 400 hours of community service.

“Landen is haunted by the events of that day,” said his attorney, Roger Smith Jr. “For some reason, his brakes simply failed. ... Three years later, nobody knows why.”

Landen Glass and the 2022 Raleigh Christmas Parade

In November 2022, Glass drove one of two trucks towing a float that carried members of the CC & Co. Dance Complex when he lost control of the vehicle, honking his horn and trying to warn spectators. The 2011 GMC Sierra hit Brooks, of the group’s dancers, at low speed.

A Virginia resident, Glass had several tickets in his home state for inspection and equipment violations. One of them came just three weeks before the parade and cited failing to have his vehicle inspected, window tinting violations, an improper exhaust system and not having marker lights.

“It’s not a tragedy when it could have been preventable,” said Assistant District Attorney Shaun Taylor.

Hailey Brooks’ dad gives his impact statement

Dozens of friends and family members filled the courtroom wearing “Shine Like Hailey” shirts and hoodies. Trey Brooks began his statement by showing a video of Hailey’s final dance to Christina Aguilera’s “I’m a Good Girl.”

Brooks described learning of her death, and the guilt over not being present at the parade or the hospital, and how his feelings turned from disbelief to rage to loneliness.

“I was broken,” he said as his wife April rubbed his shoulder in the courtroom. “April was broken. Our family was broken. I couldn’t fix it.”

He recalled Hailey being so generous with her time that she would skip meals to help friends learn their dance steps, and he told the courtroom she had dreams of becoming a marine biologist.

“I dreamed of father-daughter nights,” he said, “of one day walking my daughter down the aisle. ... I dreamed she would one day have a family of her own.

“For me,” he continued, “my cross is anger. The devil wants me to harbor hate toward you. ... With the Lord’s help, I refuse to hate you and extend emotional and spiritual forgiveness to you.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This story was originally published November 17, 2025 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Landen Glass sentenced for killing girl in 2022 Raleigh Christmas Parade."

Josh Shaffer

The News & Observer

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Josh Shaffer is a general assignment reporter on the watch for “talkers,” which are stories you might discuss around a water cooler. He has worked for The News & Observer since 2004 and writes a column about unusual people and places.