The suspect in last month’s deadly rampage at a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub was charged Tuesday with 305 criminal counts in what could be the largest prosecuted homicide in state history, officials said.
Anderson Lee Aldrich is suspected of killing five people and wounding 17 others at Club Q in Colorado Springs on November 19. Five more people were injured, but not by bullets. 12 other people were injured but no injuries were seen, police said.
The 305 charges filed in court include first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and bias-motivated crimes, District Attorney Michael Allen told the court.
Allen said he couldn’t recall a number of homicide cases.
“At least to my knowledge, I think this is probably the most charges we’ve ever filed in one case, in a homicide case like this in the state of Colorado,” Allen told reporters after the hearing. “But there might be. There are others I’m not thinking of right now.”
Attorneys for both sides asked the judge to set a preliminary hearing for Aldrich in May.
Allen cited his own busy trial schedule and said defense attorneys needed time to go over all the evidence against their client.
“This case we expect to be very large (and) it may take some time for the defense (attorneys) to digest it and prepare to present evidence at the preliminary hearing,” Allen told the court.
But 4th Judicial District Judge Michael McHenry insisted the trial could begin sooner and ordered both sides to prepare for a two-day preliminary hearing on Feb. 22.
“I would be surprised if we got to an actual jury trial sometime in 2023,” Allen later told reporters. “I suspect it will be a little later than that.”
Aldrich sat with the defense attorneys, wearing a fluorescent lime prison uniform and appearing attentive throughout the proceedings.
Tuesday’s pre-trial hearing was the first time the public saw Aldrich since Nov. 23 when the 22-year-old made an initial court appearance.
The suspect, who was humiliated by club patrons who fought hard during the shooting, appeared lethargic that day and struggled to sit upright in a wheelchair.
Booking mug shots showed multiple cuts on the suspect’s face, a black, swollen left eye and a wound behind the left ear. Aldrich is nonbinary and uses the pronouns they/them.
“In the first setting, the demeanor and body of the suspect were very different than it is today,” Allen said after the hearing.
They “went into the courtroom today (and) appear to have recovered somewhat, as in the final setting (of their) visible bruises on their faces.”
Witnesses credited the quick actions of Army veteran Richard Fierro, 45, and another man for catching the gunman and limiting the carnage.