BOULDER - Two dozen teens showed up at the Boulder County Courthouse on Wednesday morning in support of two friends charged in the stabbing death of Linda Damm.

The common themes were that Bryan Grove and Tess Damm, Linda's daughter, are "awesome people," that Grove would do anything to protect Tess Damm, and that Tess' mother was an out-of-control drinker.

"Yeah, their lives were a little messed up, but they were amazing people," said Andrew Stygar, 16, a junior at Centaurus High School. "They are kind of passive aggressive. They tried not to let anything bother them. . . .

"There's no way I can fathom that they would do something like that."

Grace Matthews, 15, said she saw the problems Tess had with her mom, and frequently invited Tess to her house to get out of the maelstrom.

"Her mother had no control over her drinking," Grace said. "Sometimes, when Tess was with Bryan, she'd get mad and freak out," but the source always seemed to be her mother.

"I do wish I could have done more to help Tess," she said.

Quinn McNierney, a sophomore at Centaurus, said Tess' father moved away when she was young and had almost no contact with her. "Linda was all Tess had," he said.

Cree Corley, 15, who attended Arapahoe Ridge High School with Tess, said, "She loved her mom, even though she didn't show it very much.

"We were there through all the fights," she said.

Cree and Tomeka Hayworth said Tess usually confided everything to them. "But I guess she just couldn't tell us about this," Cree said. "I guess we didn't know everything about her."