On July 20, 2012, a mass
shooting occurred inside of a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado,
during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. A gunman,
dressed in tactical clothing, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the
audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. The
sole suspect, James
Eagan Holmes, was arrested outside the cinema minutes later.
In the 2013 Blog Post, we heard from
the victims’ families and survivors of the shooting and in this blog post, we
will hear from survivors who want James Holmes to be executed.
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Twelve were killed and another 58 were
injured at the hands of a heavily armed madman at the midnight showing of
"Dark Knight Rises" on July 20, 2012. The mass shooting suspect is
24-year-old James Holmes. The number of lives taken makes it one of the largest
mass shootings in American history. Among the dead are a 6-year-old girl, an
aspiring sportscaster, and three young heroes who took bullets to save their
girlfriends lives. Take a look back as we remember those whose lives were cut
short by this tragedy ... (SOURCE: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/colorado-shooting-victims-gallery-1.1120112)
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INTERNET
SOURCE: http://abc11.com/news/survivor-says-colorado-shooter-should-get-death-penalty/857476/
Local survivor says Colorado shooter should get death penalty
A North
Carolina-native and his wife, who survived that massacre, went back to
Colorado, and were in the courtroom for the verdict.
By Greg Barnes
Thursday, July 16, 2015 11:20PM
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) –
James
Holmes was found guilty Thursday of killing 12 people and wounding 70 other
movie goers in Aurora, Colorado in 2012.
A North Carolina native and his wife, who survived that massacre, went back to Colorado, and were in the courtroom for the verdict.
"You can't put it behind you, but it puts closure on him getting justice," said Derrick Poage. "He didn't show no facial... he didn't cry. He didn't even seem to care. No sympathy at all."
Poage and his then-girlfriend, Naya Thompson, survived the massacre. In a 2012 interview shortly after the shooting, Poage said they barely got out with their lives.
"People were saying 'Help me,' but it was mostly just screaming, loud men and women, and children crying. It was terrifying," he said.
Poage is from Hope Mills, where he ran high school track. He was spending the summer of 2012 at Thompson's home in Aurora, before going to college. He and Thompson are married now.
In a telephone conversation Thursday from Colorado, Poage said they still talk about that horrible night when they literally jumped up and ran for their lives.
"I hear all those screams, the screams, the crying, then running out, seeing everybody. Me and my wife running out of there," Poage said. "Thank God we got out, because so many did not."
Poage said his wife cried when she heard the verdict. He said they are not death penalty proponents, but feel it's justified in this case.
"She feels like he should get the death penalty, and I do lean that way too because of all the harm that he caused," he said.
Poage said he and his wife won't be in the courtroom for Holmes' sentencing. They have to fly back to their home in Wilmington this weekend.
However, Poage said since that 2012 shooting he wakes up every morning thankful that he and his wife got a second chance. It's a second chance others in that Colorado theatre didn't get that awful night.
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This combination of photos provided by their
families shows seven of the 12 victims in the Friday, July 20, 2012 Aurora,
Colo. movie theater shooting. Top row from left are Jonathan Blunk, Jesse
Childress, Gordon Cowden, Jessica Ghawi, and bottom row from left, John
Larimer, Micayla Medek, Alex Sullivan. (AP photo) (SOURCE: http://www.komonews.com/news/national/A-look-at-the-lives-of-12-Colorado-shooting-victims-163352386.html)
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Survivors
want Batman shooter executed
Centennial, Colorado - After all 165
guilty verdicts were read and Colorado's movie massacre gunman was taken back
to a cell to await his fate, many of his victims rejoiced and said James Holmes
must be executed for justice to be done.
Survivors and their loved ones smiled
and hugged outside the rain-swept courthouse on Thursday evening, after Holmes
was convicted of killing 12 people and wounding 70 inside a Denver-area
theater. The third anniversary of the rampage will be this Monday.
“As soon as we heard the
first 'guilty' we knew the other dominoes were going to fall,” said Tom Sullivan, 60. His
son Alex, called Sully by his friends and co-workers, had been celebrating his
27th birthday with friends at the cinema when Holmes killed him and the others
in a hail of bullets.
“We're part of the way
through this and ready for the next step,” Sullivan, 60, told Reuters.
That next step starts on Wednesday
when the trial enters the sentencing phase. Jurors will hear more weeks of
testimony, then decide whether Holmes should be put to death by lethal
injection or serve a life sentence with no possibility of parole.
“I hope to do everything I
can to see this guy's privileges are taken away and he no longer gets to
breathe the sweet air that Coloradans get to breathe,” Sullivan said.
Asked if he wants to see Holmes
executed, Sullivan replied: “Yes. Absolutely.”
Also outside the Arapahoe County
Justice Center was Marlene Knobbe, 79, grandmother of slain college student
Micayla Medek, 23. Knobbe said she was “thrilled” with the verdict.
“But I'll wake up tomorrow,
and he's still alive, and that's not right,” she said. “I
want him to die.”
For Sullivan, Knobbe and others
forever affected by the massacre, Thursday's unexpectedly quick verdict ended
years of worrying whether a jury might buy Holmes' insanity plea.
But after hearing from hundreds of
witnesses and seeing thousands of pieces of evidence during the almost
three-month long capital trial, the nine women and three men on the panel
returned guilty verdicts after just about a day and a half of deliberation.
Holmes, 27, remained expressionless,
hands thrust into pockets throughout the hour it took for Judge Carlos Samour
to read “guilty” after all 165 charges. In the packed public gallery behind the
defendant, some victims celebrated quietly, embracing and clapping each other
on the shoulder.
During the penalty phase, jurors will
consider aggravating factors, such as the murder of a child, the youngest
victim, six-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan.
They will also hear mitigating factors
presented by Holmes' court-appointed attorneys, who could even call the
gunman's parents, Arlene and Bob.
The process is expected to last until
late August, when the jury will decide if Holmes should be executed for one of
the worst mass shootings in recent US history.
Prosecutors rarely call for the death
penalty in Colorado. Currently there are three inmates on death row, and only
one death-row inmate has been executed in the state in nearly 50 years.
Jansen Young, a survivor who was
wounded in the shooting and whose boyfriend was killed, said she would accept
it if the jury gave Holmes life in prison. But she said she was pushing for the
death penalty because it was what her boyfriend Jonathan Blunk, 26, would have
wanted.
Also outside court, Sandy Phillips
watched some of the survivors leaving, including one being pushed in a
wheelchair. Her 24-year-old daughter, Jessica Ghawi, was in the theater that
night and died after being hit by several of Holmes' bullets.
“We're very happy that this
animal, this monster, will never see the light of day,” Phillips said.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/ci_28500056/katie-medley-james-holmes-deserves-death-penalty
Katie Medley:
James Holmes deserves death penalty
Family relieved by guilty verdict
By Sarah Rose
roses@canoncitydailyrecord.com
Posted: 07/17/2015 01:18:34 PM
MDT
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Aurora shooting victim, Caleb Medley, left,
has a laugh with Katie in a photo made before the shooting. (/ Photo
courtesy of the family)
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Katie Medley, the first person who
testified in the James Holmes trial, said she was pleased with the verdict, but
brokenhearted with the reason why so many families were at the courthouse in
the first place.
Holmes, 27, was found guilty Thursday
of killing 12 people at an Aurora movie theater in July 2012.
Medley's husband, Caleb, was shot in
the head by Holmes while they were watching "The Dark Knight Rises."
Her husband continues to receive medical treatment.
"We all believe he got
the verdicts he deserved,"
Medley, of Cañon City, said. "When I heard the
first 'guilty,' we knew there was going to be many more 'guilty' after. We all
felt really relieved. We've been dealing with this for a very long time."
She said while the verdicts were being
read, she was in a separate courtroom because the other room was completely
full.
"We were mostly focused
on the judge and hearing the verdicts, but as far as I know, there wasn't a lot
of emotion from (Holmes),"
Medley said.
She said she isn't able to recall how
long her testimony was.
"I was nervous about
testifying, but during opening statements, it was hard hearing everything
altogether, (so) testifying felt really good (because) it could help everybody
get justice,"
Medley said.
"They were asking us
about the night of the shooting. They weren't able to go into background or a
whole lot into the aftermath."
She said her husband also was glad he
was able to testify.
"He was ready for
everything to be over, and he was ready to move on," Medley said. "He wanted (Holmes) to see him and know what he did to
him."
She said Holmes deserves the death
penalty.
"I think that's what
all the families want in the case." Medley said. "There's
not a place on this earth for (Holmes)."
She said she is thankful for her
family every day.
"We're so blessed that
we still have Caleb and got to bring Hugo into this world safely," Medley said. "A lot of people there didn't have the same fortune that
we did."
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Aurora shooting victim Caleb Medley, in
wheelchair, his father Otis, behind him and wife Katie, to his left, and other
members of the family leave the Arapahoe County Justice Center on Thursday in
Centennial. James Holmes was found guilty on all 165 counts against him in
Aurora theater shooting trial. (Helen H. Richardson / THE DENVER POST)
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