Club Q mass shooter Anderson Lee Aldrich pleaded guilty Monday to five counts of murder and 46 of attempted murder for the Colorado Springs gay nightclub bloodbath.
The 23-year-old steroid-abusing shooter — who is nonbinary and uses them/ they pronouns — entered the plea as part of a deal that still leaves them facing five consecutive life sentences in prison.
“I intentionally and after deliberation caused the death of each victim,” Aldrich, 23, told Judge Michael McHenry at Monday’s hearing.
People in the courtroom wiped away tears as the judge read out the names of the five murdered: Kelly Loving, 40; Daniel Aston, 28; Derrick Rump, 38; Ashley Paugh, 34; and Raymond Green Vance, 22.
Aldrich said in a series of recent jailhouse interviews that they wanted to spare survivors and victims’ families a long, painful trial — and deserved to spend life behind bars.
Grieving loved ones of the dead made clear that even that did not help.
“This thing sitting in this court room is not a human, it is a monster,” Jessica Fierro, whose daughter’s boyfriend was killed, told the court. “The devil awaits with open arms.”
Aston’s dad, Jeff Aston, said his son “was huge light in this world that was snuffed out by a heinous, evil and cowardly act.”
“I will never again hear him laugh at my dad jokes … His mom and I will never be the same.”
As well as five counts of first-degree murder, Aldrich pleaded guilty to 46 counts of attempted first-degree murder for the others injured in the LGBTQ+ nightclub on Nov. 19.
Aldrich, the son of a former MMA star who also starred in porn, also pleaded no contest to two counts of bias-motivated crime.
“I believe there is a high probability of being found guilty at trial on those counts, so I’m pleading no contest,” Aldrich told the court.
The Justice Department is still considering federal hate crime charges, sources have said — which could leave Aldrich potentially still facing the death penalty.
Before the plea deal, Aldrich had been charged with 323 criminal counts for the slaughter carried out with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle when the shooter was just 22.
Heroic patrons eventually tackled Aldrich, who was wearing body armor and was left bloodied after being stamped on with high heels at the drag show night.
The mass shooting came over a year after Aldrich had been arrested for threatening their grandparents and vowing to become “the next mass killer.”
Aldrich had been arrested after a standoff with SWAT officers that was livestreamed on Facebook — telling officers, “If they breach, I’m a f—-ing blow it to holy hell!”
Aldrich eventually surrendered. However, the charges were thrown out in July 2022 after Aldrich’s mother and grandparents, the victims in the case, refused to cooperate with prosecutors.
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
Monday’s plea followed a series of jailhouse phone calls in which Aldrich expressed the need “to take responsibility for what happened.”
“Nothing’s ever going to bring back their loved ones. People are going to have to live with injury that can’t be repaired,” said Aldrich, who admitted to abusing steroids and being on a “very large plethora of drugs.”
However, when asked whether the attack was motivated by hate, Aldrich refused to address it directly, only saying that was “completely off base.”
With Post wires