COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. − The suspect accused of killing five people and injuring 17 others at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs pleaded guilty Monday to multiple murder charges and other crimes.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 23, pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted first-degree murder and no contest two counts of bias-motivated crimes, one a felony and the other a misdemeanor. Aldrich was initially charged with more than 300 crimes in connection to the mass shooting at Club Q in November.
According to the plea deal, Aldrich will serve five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole on the murder charges and 46 consecutive 48-year sentences on the attempted murder charges, Judge Michael McHenry said Monday. The plea deal spares survivors and victims’ family members, many of whom spoke at Monday’s hearing, a potentially painful trial.
Aldrich opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle at the nightclub before bar patrons, including Army veteran Richard Fierro, helped subdue them.
“I intentionally and after deliberation caused the death of each victim,” Aldrich told McHenry Monday.
Crying could be heard in the courtroom as McHenry read the names of of Aldrich’s victims, including the five killed – Ashley Paugh, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Daniel Davis Aston and Derrick Rump. As the arraignment shifted into a sentencing hearing, survivors and family members of those killed in the attack spoke about their loved ones.
“I was celebrating my birthday when this heinous attack happened, and not only have I lost my partner, my sense of safety, but I’ve also lost a massive sense of safety for our community as a whole,” said Wyatt Kent, a drag performer who was in a relationship with Aston, a Club Q bartender. “We as queer people were attacked on November 19.”
Aldrich sentenced to life in prison
District Attorney Michael Allen described the deal as one that “achieves the highest measure of justice possible under the law in the state of Colorado while allowing the victims and their families to continue forward on their path toward healing.”
Aldrich declined to speak during sentencing, but their attorney Joseph Archambault said in a statement Aldrich is “deeply remorseful.”
McHenry condemned Aldrich’s actions, saying they “reflect the deepest malice of the human heart, and is almost always born of ignorance and fear.”
“The sentence of this court is the judgment of the people of the state of Colorado that such hate will not be tolerated and that the LGBTQ+ community is as much a part of the family of humanity as you are,” McHenry said.
Several of the victims cried and held each other as Aldrich was sentenced, while Aldrich showed no visible emotion. The district attorney’s office has 45 days to determine restitution.
Survivors, victim’s family speak during sentencing
Many, including Aston’s mother, Sabrina Aston, said they would not forgive the shooter.
Fierro, one of the patrons who helped subdue Aldrich, described the shooting as a “terrorist attack” and called Aldrich’s actions “unforgivable.”
“I want him to know his evil was stopped by a person of color, by LGBTQ folks, by a transgender woman, by actual combat veterans, real heroes,” Fierro said.
Michael Anderson said Aldrich destroyed a safe haven for the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs. Anderson said he was expecting a simple night working the bar at Club Q and was in the middle of pouring drink for a regular customer when Aldrich decided to “began hunting us down.”
“I’m grateful to have survived that night, but my expectation was that me, Derrick and Daniel would all clock out that night and go home,” Anderson said. “I’m the only one who got to clock out that night and that’s not fair.“
Matthew Haynes, owner of Club Q, pledged the nightclub would reopen.
“You did not succeed in destroying this community, Club Q will open with a memorial to those killed to remember those that were killed for generations to come,” Haynes said. “Your hate and the hate of others will not win.”
Suspect could also face federal hate crime charges
In addition to the hundreds of state charges, Aldrich could face federal hate crime charges, according to The Associated Press.
The Justice Department is considering filing federal hate crime charges, the outlet reported, citing a senior law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. It’s unclear whether a plea deal for the state charges would also resolve the federal investigation, the Associated Press reported. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Aldrich told the outlet they plan to take responsibility for the attack at Monday’s hearing, but some survivors who listened to Aldrich’s recorded jailhouse phone calls with The Associated Press saw their comments as an attempt to avoid the federal death penalty.
Previously: Judge refuses to drop hate crime charges against Colorado Springs shooting suspect
Contributing: The Associated Press
N’dea Yancey-Bragg reports for USA TODAY; Justin Reutter reports for Pueblo Chieftain.
