A former Greenwood Village police officer was found guilty of manslaughter in his murder trial in the death of an Aurora teenager, which started over an altercation on a residential street.

Adam Holen, 38, was found not guilty of menacing. He sobbed after the verdict was read, his shoulders shaking.

Holen was allowed to go home to his wife and three children until the sentencing May 20, according to 18th Judicial District spokesperson Eric Ross. Eighteenth Judicial District Judge Eric White did not revoke the original $50,000 bail, so Holen will be allowed to stay home with his family until the sentencing.

At that time, if White sentenced him to prison, Holen would spend time behind bars.

The family of 17-year-old Peyton Blitstein showed no emotion during the verdict announcement, but outside of the Arapahoe County Justice Center, Todd Blitstein held back tears.

“My memories are about how Peyton wanted to help everyone out. He wanted to go into the military. He wanted to serve his country,” said Blitstein.

His mother and Peyton’s grandmother, Linda Blitstein, had died after a long illness just two hours before the verdict was announced.

“He was her baby. They used to eat together all of the time. Now, they are together. I know she was hopeful to get the final verdict today,” Blitstein told reporters gathered outside of the courthouse on a chilly evening. 

Holen faces two to six years in prison, with the possibility of community service or probation, according to the prosecutor.

Peyton Blitstein’s best friend, 19-year-old Yahir Terrones, was in the courtroom for most of the trial. “It’s horrible. I can’t believe it,” he said. “Six years for killing a kid? That’s wrong.”

The seven-man, five-woman jury started deliberations on Friday afternoon and returned on Tuesday, as White was busy with other cases on Monday.

The incident, caught on a Ring doorbell camera more than two years ago, showed Holen pull up alongside a car full of teenagers in his truck and complain that the car was being driven recklessly.

The jury panel saw two black and white videos. The first was a 21-second snippet, which showed that Holen began the interaction by taunting the teens in a sarcastic voice.

“Good night. Kiss her good night. Love you” was heard on the recording.

On the second, longer video, Bethany Poor, the driver of the car, stood on her porch as an argument quickly got out of hand 20 to 30 feet away.

She testified that she saw Holen show his gun to the teens and cock it, while he was still in the car, but that account was refuted by Holen’s attorneys.

According to the affidavit, “increased yelling” by both sides escalated into shots being fired within seconds and ended with Blitstein falling backward and then forward.

Aurora police said that Blitstein shot first, hitting Holen in the hip.

Testimony by a forensic pathologist from the Arapahoe County Coroner’s office revealed that all nine shots from Holen’s Smith and Wesson handgun hit Blitstein in the torso and in each arm. Two of the gunshots were fatal, according to the pathologist.

Holen was facing second-degree murder and felony menacing charges in Blitstein’s death.

The jury was tasked with deciding who was the aggressor that night.

In a five-day trial, which was often emotional, the jury listened to testimony from four of the teenagers who were in the car on Nov. 24, 2021 and from the mother of the driver of the vehicle, Amber Roseborough, who also owned the video that captured the gunfight outside of her home.

Paramedics and police officers who responded to Roseborough’s 911 call for help also testified, as did the lead Aurora detective in the investigation.

The defense rested on Thursday without calling any witnesses.

Holen’s attorneys, Megan Downing and Liz Delay, maintained that he acted in self-defense and was only concerned with keeping the streets where his children played safe.

But prosecutor Christopher Gallo said Holen was “in the driver’s seat” that night.

Holen also faces a wrongful death civil lawsuit, which is expected to be filed on Wednesday. His only comment regarding his conviction was shown in a handwritten message he displayed as he walked out of the courtroom: John 13:7, the Biblical passage that says, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Now that the criminal trial is over, a wrongful death civil suit will be filed Wednesday. “Peyton didn’t do anything wrong and the video shows that,” said the Blitstein’s civil attorney Birk Baumgartner.  

Baumgartner would not divulge the amount of money being sought in the matter.