Colorado Springs mass shooter pleads guilty to five counts of murder

The suspect accused of killing five people in a mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs pleaded guilty in court Monday.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 23, who wore a blue plaid shirt and blue tie, responded calmly to Judge Michael McHenry, begging guilty of five counts of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder.

“I deliberately and deliberately caused the death of every victim,” Aldrich said as people in the packed courtroom wiped away tears.

A guilty plea means the victims’ families will not be subject to a months-long trial, forcing them to relive the day of the shooting when the suspect walked into Club Q and indiscriminately fired an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

Aldrich also pleaded no challenge to two counts of bias-motivated crimes, one a misdemeanor and the other a misdemeanor.

Aldrich, who is non-binary and uses the pronouns she and she, now faces life in prison on murder charges. Colorado no longer has a death penalty statute.

On November 19, 2022, Aldrich, wearing body armor, opened fire at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub. Aside from the dead, nearly two dozen others were wounded by gunfire or otherwise wounded before being stopped by “heroic” patrons.

The dead in the shooting were identified as Kelly Loving, 40; Daniel Aston, 28; Derrick Rump, 38; Ashley Paug, 34; and Raymond Green Vance, 22.

Heartbroken loved ones spoke at Aldrich’s hearing on Monday, including Sabrina and Jeff Aston, the parents of Daniel Aston – one of the bartenders at Club Q.

“Losing him has brought us incredible grief and sorrow,” said Jeff Aston. “We will never hear any of his stories again. I’ll never hear him laugh at my father’s jokes again.’

As the families continued their impact statements, Aldrich kept his head down as public defenders next to him occasionally touched their shoulders, according to a local reporter in court.

Adriana Vance, mother of Raymond Green Vance, told the court: ‘The families have to somehow find a way to move on. This man does not deserve to continue. The point now is that he never sees a sunrise or a sunset.’

The Club Q shooting was reminiscent of a 2016 massacre when a gunman killed 49 people at the gay Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, before being shot dead by police.

Aldrich, then 22, was formally indicted last December 6 and charged with 323 criminal counts but did not enter a plea at the time.

The most serious charges carry a life sentence without possibility of parole.

However, Aldrich could face a death sentence in federal court if prosecutors decide to bring charges under the U.S. Code, which still has the death penalty on its books for certain crimes.

Monday’s hearing follows a series of prison phone calls from Aldrich to The Associated Press, expressing his regret and intent to face the consequences at this hearing.

Several survivors told the AP about the plea deal after being contacted about Aldrich’s comments to AP. They said prosecutors had informed them that Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses she and they pronouns, would plead guilty to charges that would carry a life sentence.

Aldrich was originally charged with more than 300 state counts, including murder and hate crimes. The U.S. Justice Department is considering pursuing federal charges of hate crimes, according to a senior law enforcement official familiar with the case who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing case.

The attack on Club Q came more than a year after Aldrich was arrested for threatening their grandparents and vowing to become “the next mass murderer.” But in that case, the charges were eventually dropped.

Aldrich was subsequently arrested following a standoff with SWAT agents live-streamed on Facebook and the evacuation of 10 nearby homes, telling officers, “If they break through, I’ll blow it to holy hell!” Aldrich eventually surrendered.

However, charges against Aldrich were dropped in July 2022 after Aldrich’s mother and grandparents, the victims in the case, refused to cooperate with prosecutors and attempts to evade them with subpoenas to testify, according to court documents obtained after the shooting. unsealed. .

Other family members told a judge they feared Aldrich would hurt their grandparents if they were released. showed.

Aldrich was then released from prison and authorities seized two weapons – a ghost gun pistol and an MM15 rifle – at the time of the arrest. But there was nothing to stop Aldrich from legally buying more firearms, which immediately after the shooting raised questions about whether authorities should have applied for a red flag order to prevent such purchases.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said it could not have sought a court order to stop Aldrich from buying or possessing guns because the 2021 arrest file was sealed after charges were dropped.

There was no new evidence they could use to prove Aldrich posed a threat “for the foreseeable future,” the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators later revealed that the two weapons Aldrich had during the Club Q attack – the rifle and a handgun – appeared to be phantom weapons, or unserialized firearms that are homemade and do not require an owner to pass a background check.

Aldrich told the AP in one of the prison interviews that they were using a “very high abundance of drugs” and abusing steroids at the time of the attack. But they did not answer directly to the hate crime allegations.

When asked if the attack was motivated by hate, Aldrich said only that that was “not true at all.” Aldrich’s lawyers, who have not disputed Aldrich’s role in the shooting, have also rejected hatred as the reason.

Some survivors who listened to the recorded phone calls saw Aldrich’s comments as an attempt to avoid the death penalty that still exists in the federal system.

Colorado abolished it in 2020 and life without jail time is now the penalty imposed for first-degree murder in the state.

They objected to Aldrich’s reluctance to discuss motive and their use of passive, generic language such as “I just can’t believe what happened” and “I wish I could turn back time.”