A 23-year-old was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty on Monday to murder and other crimes in a 2022 shooting that killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs.
Anderson Lee Aldrich pleaded guilty to five first-degree murder counts and 46 attempted murder counts, part of an agreement reached with prosecutors that avoids what could have been a lengthy trial. Aldrich also pleaded no contest to two counts of bias-motivated crimes.
On Nov. 19, 2022, Aldrich, wearing body armor, opened fire at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub. Apart from those killed, nearly two dozen others were wounded by gunfire or otherwise injured before being stopped by "heroic" patrons. Aldrich, then 22, was charged with 323 criminal counts.
During the sentencing hearing immediately following the plea, family members of the victims and survivors of the shooting spoke tearfully about their loved ones and expressed fury at Aldrich for the attack.
"I will never get the chance to marry the love of my life," said Kassandra Fierro, whose boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance, was among the dead. "I will never get to start a family with Raymond. I will never get to see, hear or feel Raymond ever again."
Others, noting that Club Q had long been a "safe space" for LGBTQ residents, said the shooting had shattered their tight-knit community.
The shooting at Club Q was reminiscent of a massacre in 2016 when a gunman killed 49 people at the gay Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, before he was shot dead by police.
Colorado no longer has a death-penalty statute. However, Aldrich could face a death sentence in federal court if prosecutors decide to bring charges under the U.S. code, which still has capital punishment on its books for certain crimes.
Aldrich was formally charged last Dec. 6 and did not enter a plea at the time.
Those killed in the shooting were identified as Daniel Aston, 28; Kelly Loving, 40; Derrick Rump, 38; Ashley Paugh, 34; and Vance, 22.
Aldrich was known to law enforcement, having been arrested in June 2021. Aldrich's mother had reported that Aldrich had threatened to detonate a bomb and harm her with multiple weapons, according to a press release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. Aldrich's mother declined to testify for the prosecution, and the case was dismissed.
