The trial of Anderson Lee Aldrich, who is accused of using an AR-style rifle to attack Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2022, reached sentencing on June 26.
CNN reported that the defendant admitted to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted murder. Under the plea agreement, Judge Michael Henry sentenced the defendant to five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, as well as an additional 2,208 years in prison for these crimes.
Portrait of Anderson Lee Aldrich
COLORADO SPRINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT
According to a Colorado prosecutor, this is the second-longest sentence in the state's history. Prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty for Aldrich because in 2020, Colorado became the 22nd state in the US to abolish the death penalty.
At a press conference on June 26, officials confirmed that a federal investigation into the Club Q attack was launched and is ongoing. Prosecutors said the possibility of the death penalty in a federal trial motivated Aldrich to plead guilty in a state trial. The death penalty remains legal in federal cases.
"Cases like this are why the death penalty should exist in the state of Colorado. The victims in this case deserve to see the defendant face the maximum penalty the law can impose," said prosecutor Michael Allen.
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According to Reuters, on November 19, 2022, Aldrich, wearing body armor and armed with a rifle and a handgun, opened fire at Club Q, a nightclub for the LGBTQ community. In addition to the five people killed, 19 others were injured by gunshots or other causes. Aldrich, then 22 years old, was charged with 323 criminal charges.
Aldrich, who identifies as "non-binary," declined to speak during sentencing, but defense attorney Joseph Archambault said Aldrich wanted the court to know "he is deeply remorseful."
The Club Q shooting was reminiscent of the 2016 massacre when a gunman killed 49 people at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, before being shot dead by police.
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