Club Q Shooter Sentenced to Life in Prison
Anderson Lee Aldrich, the Club Q shooter, was sentenced to multiple life sentences after entering a guilty plea on charges of murder.
Anderson Lee Aldrich has been sentenced to five consecutive life sentences for opening fire in Club Q, a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub, last November. Appearing in court on Monday, June 26, Aldrich pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted first-degree murder.
On Nov. 19, 2022, Aldrich, wearing body armor and armed with a rifle and handgun, opened fire inside the club, killing five patrons and employees, and injuring nearly two dozen others. Aldrich was stopped after an Army veteran, who had been visiting the club with his daughter and her boyfriend, and a female club performer, subdued Aldrich until authorities could arrive.
Aldrich, 23, who claims to identify as nonbinary, also pleaded no contest to two counts of bias-motivated crimes, which has the same effect as a conviction under law.
Addressing the court as they entered their plea, Aldrich admitted to “intentionally and after deliberation caus[ing] the death ” of the five murder victims and attempting to murder others intentionally.
They said they were pleading no contest to the bias-motivated crimes charges because even they didn’t believe they had committed the shootings with any bias, they reasoned that there was a high likelihood of being convicted of those charges, reports Colorado Public Radio News.
During a preliminary hearing in February, a detective testified that Aldrich had been to Club Q six times over the course of a year, buying drinks, singing karaoke, and attending a drag show — which spoke to not only Aldrich’s familiarity with the space, but the potential degree of premeditation that it took to carry out the mass shooting.
But on Monday, June 26, in addition to Aldrich entering a plea, victims, their family members, and survivors of the attack were allowed to address both Judge Michael McHenry and Aldrich directly and testify how Aldrich’s actions impacted their lives or left them without loved ones.
“I will never forgive you for this,” Sabrina Aston, the mother of 28-year-old bartender Daniel Aston, who was killed in the attack, said, addressing Aldrich. “This hole in my heart will be here every day until I die. You have to live with this shame in your small cell until you die. Not for one minute do I believe your regret. You robbed him of ever fulfilling his dreams.”
Adriana Vance, the mother of 22-year-old patron Raymond Green Vance, said she is trying to find a way to move on without her son.
“This man doesn’t deserve to go on,” she said of Aldrich. “What matters now is that he never sees a sunrise or a sunset.”
Drea Norman, who helped subdue Aldrich before police arrived on scene, told the court she remembers getting a look at Aldrich’s face during the shooting.
“I want everyone here today to understand that this was deliberate,” Norman said. “It almost looked excitable to the shooter.”
Some victims and survivors expressed anger that Colorado no longer imposes the death penalty, while others asked McHenry to impose the maximum sentenced allowed by the state.
El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen argued that there was overwhelming evidence that Aldrich committed the shootings as part of a larger hate crime, seeking to target victims for their sexual orientation and gender identity.
While the victims and survivors were speaking, Aldrich sat and stared at the floor, their eyes occasionally filling with tears. They did not address the victims, although attorney Joseph Archambault spoke on their behalf.
“They are deeply remorseful and they are deeply sorry for all the people they killed,” Archambault said on behalf of his client. “They know that they can’t do anything to make it better but they do want everyone to know they’re sorry they are remorseful and Mx. Aldrich does ask the court to accept the plea deal and sentence.”
In sentencing Aldrich to multiple life sentences, plus more than 2,000 years for attempted murder of all Club Q patrons, McHenry said, “This country was founded on the idea that all persons were created equal, the idea that God makes no mistakes. Hate crimes are worse than other crimes…. Your actions reflect the deepest malice of the human heart.
“For taking these five lives, and attempting to take 46 more you will now spend the rest of your life in prison,” he added. “We grieve this loss of life and we affirm the value of all the members of our community. Justice demands no less.”
It is still unclear whether federal prosecutors will file federal hate crimes charges against Aldrich. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has declined to comment on the case.
It is also unclear whether the state’s Department of Corrections will house Aldrich in a men’s or women’s prison. The Department of Corrections has not yet commented on Aldrich’s housing assignment.
In a press conference following the sentencing, Allen, the district attorney, rejected the idea that Aldrich was nonbinary, saying there was “zero evidence” prior to the shooting that Aldrich identified that way, reports the Associated Press.
“I think it was a stilted effort to avoid any bias-motivated or hate charges,” Allen said, adding that Aldrich was a “coward” who had displayed “extreme hatred” for the LGBTQ community prior to the shooting.”
A former friend of Aldrich’s previously told NBC News that he believed Aldrich’s claim of being nonbinary was an attempt to “troll” the LGBTQ community, adding that his former friend frequently made racist and homophobic statements.
Similarly, Clara Martiny, a digital research analyst for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a global nonprofit combating online extremism and disinformation, previously told Metro Weekly that it is not uncommon for those on the right to mock or attempt to troll the LGBTQ community and their allies.
“The far-right sees pronouns and individuals who identify as non-binary as a subject for hate attacks and trolling. This is something that we’ve observed a rise in — targeted harassment and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric — over the past several years,” Martiny said.
In a statement posted to its Facebook page when news of a possible plea deal first emerged, Club Q declined to comment on the specifics, but said it hoped seeing “justice delivered” would bring survivors some measure of comfort.
“It is our hope that the deliverance of justice will allow victims and survivors to foster healing, find closure and begin to find peace,” the statement read.
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