COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The suspect in a mass shooting last year that killed five people and wounded 17 at Club Q in Colorado Springs was sentenced Monday to five life sentences without the possibility of parole for murder and an additional 2,208 years for attempted murder to run consecutively.
Anderson Lee Aldrich pleaded guilty to murder and other charges during an emotional Monday court hearing in which some victims relatives vowed to never forgive the “evil” attack.
Aldrich's guilty plea came seven months after the shooting and spares victim’s families and survivors a long and potentially painful trial. An investigation is still pending at the federal level.
Aldrich pleaded guilty to five counts of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder. Aldrich also pleaded no contest to two counts of bias-motivated crimes, one a felony and the other a misdemeanor.
“That is the longest sentence ever achieved in the 4th judicial system and the second, to my knowledge, longest sentence ever achieved in the state of Colorado," said District Attorney Michael Allen at a news conference, adding that it was "second only to the sentence achieved in the Aurora theater shooting case.”
Allen said the death penalty at the federal level compelled Aldrich to plead guilty at the state level. Colorado does not have the death penalty.
“The death penalty, the threat of the death penalty in the federal system, were a big part of what motivated this defendant to take this plea," Allen said.
Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said at the news conference that the U.S. Attorney's Office requested that no additional documents, evidence or videos be released pending the conclusion of the federal investigation.
“While the conclusion of the state investigation has resulted in justice being found for our victims, CSPD will honor the continued pursuit of justice at the federal level and will not be releasing anything at this time," Vasquez said.
Victims’ family members and survivors spoke at Monday's hearing about how their lives were forever altered by the terror that erupted just before midnight on Nov. 19, when the suspect walked into Club Q and indiscriminately fired an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle.
The line to get through security early Monday snaked through the large plaza outside the courthouse as victims and others queued up to attend the hearing.
“This thing sitting in this courtroom is not a human, it is a monster,” said Jessica Fierro, who’s daughter’s boyfriend was killed. “The devil awaits with open arms.”
The father of a Club Q bartender said Daniel Aston had been in the prime of his life when he was shot and killed.
“He was huge light in this world that was snuffed out by a heinous, evil and cowardly act,” Jeff Aston said. “I will never again hear him laugh at my dad jokes.”
Daniel Aston’s mother, Sabrina, was among those who said they would not forgive the crimes.
Another forgave Aldrich without excusing the crime.
“I forgive this individual, as they are a symbol of a broken system, of hate and vitriol pushed against us as a community,” said Wyatt Kent, Aston’s partner. “What brings joy to me is that this hurt individual will never be able to see the joy and the light that has been wrought into our community as an outcome.”
Aldrich mostly looked down as the victims spoke.
“I intentionally and after deliberation caused the death of each victim,” Aldrich told the judge.
Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they and them pronouns, had been arrested over a year before the attack for threatening their grandparents and vowing to become “the next mass killer.” But, charges in that case were ultimately dropped.
> Video below: The full news conference after the sentencing:
Monday's guilty plea follows a series of jailhouse phone calls from Aldrich to The Associated Press expressing remorse and the intention to face the consequences for the shooting.
Several survivors told the AP about a planned plea agreement after being approached about Aldrich's comments. They said prosecutors had notified them that Aldrich will plead guilty to charges that would ensure a sentence of life behind bars.
Aldrich hinted at plans to carry out violent attacks at least a year before the Club Q assault. In June 2021, Aldrich's grandparents told authorities that they were warned not to stand in the way of a plan to stockpile guns, ammo, body armor and a homemade bomb to become “the next mass killer.” Aldrich was then arrested after a standoff with SWAT officers that was livestreamed on Facebook and the evacuation of 10 nearby homes, telling officers “If they breach, I’m a f----ing blow it to holy hell!” Aldrich eventually surrendered.
However, the charges against Aldrich were thrown out in July 2022 after Aldrich’s mother and grandparents, the victims in the case, refused to cooperate with prosecutors, evading efforts to serve them with subpoenas to testify, according to court documents unsealed after the shooting. Other relatives told a judge they feared Aldrich would hurt their grandparents if released, painting a picture of an isolated, violent person who did not have a job and was given $30,000 that was spent largely on the purchase of 3D printers to make guns, the records showed.
Aldrich was released from jail then and authorities kept two guns — a ghost gun pistol and an MM15 rifle — seized in the arrest. But there was nothing to stop Aldrich from legally purchasing more firearms, raising questions immediately after the shooting about whether authorities should have sought a red flag order to prevent such purchases.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said it would not have been able to seek a court order stopping Aldrich from buying or possessing guns because the 2021 arrest record was sealed after the charges were dropped. There was no new evidence that they could use to prove that Aldrich posed a threat “in the near future,” the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators later revealed that the two guns Aldrich had during the Club Q attack — the rifle and a handgun — appeared to be ghost guns, or firearms without serial numbers that are homemade and do not require an owner to pass a background check.
Aldrich told AP in one of the interviews from jail they were on a “very large plethora of drugs” and abusing steroids at the time of the attack. But they did not answer directly regarding the hate crimes charges. When asked whether the attack was motivated by hate, Aldrich said only that was “completely off base.” Aldrich's attorneys, who have not disputed Aldrich's role in the shooting, have also pushed back on hate being the reason.
Some survivors who listened to the recorded phone calls saw Aldrich's comments as an attempt to avoid the death penalty which still exists in the federal system. Colorado abolished it in 2020 and life without prison is now the mandated sentence for first-degree murder in the state. They objected to Aldrich's unwillingness to discuss a motive and their use of passive, general language like “I just can’t believe what happened” and “I wish I could turn back time.”
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS