#HolmesTrial: Family of Southern Colorado victim copes with emotional trial
Family of two survivors of the Aurora Theater shooting recounted the emotional ups and downs of the James Holmes trial that started Monday.
Florence resident Otis Medley’s son Caleb Medley and his daughter-in-law Katie Medley were at the premier of the Dark Knight Rises on July 20, 2012. Caleb was shot in face and suffered severe brain injuries.
Caleb Medley was the last person wounded in the shooting to be released from the hospital. He went to a long-term care facility about two months after the attack.
Katie Medley was one of the prosecution’s first witnesses and recounted for the jury the events of that night from the witness stand on day two of the James Holmes trial Tuesday.
“It’s been very hard on us. The first day was definitely the hardest to get through that, it was just emotionally wrenching,” said Otis Medley.
Katie Medley was nine months pregnant at the time of the attack. She gave birth to their first child a few days after the shooting in the same hospital where Caleb was in critical condition in a medically induced coma.
She told the jury that she thought her husband was dead after he was shot in the head but then noticed he was breathing.
She said police opened the exit door and screamed for people to come outside.
Medley told her friend Ashley Kurz that she had to make a decision about whether to leave or stay with her husband, and she decided to leave to make sure their unborn baby – which could be the last piece of him – would survive. She said she took his hand and he squeezed it.
“I told him that I loved him and that I would take care of our baby if he didn’t make it,” she said.
As she and her friend left, she said she had to step over bodies on the floor and then slipped in a large amount of blood. A police officer caught her.
Otis, Katie and Caleb Medley avoid saying the accused shooter’s name.
“I think one of the reasons he did this was his 15 minutes of fame. I am just not going to participate,” said Otis Medley.
Otis Medley wants the jury to give Holmes the death penalty.
“It’s not going to get anybody back, it’s not going to get my son back, it’s not going to change anything. But it will bring some justice and closure,” said Otis Medley.
This trial is important, but Otis Medley said it will not define his family.
“This is going to impact our lives for the rest of it. If I live to 100, this is going to impact what I do, who I am, where I go, but I am not going to let it master me. And I don’t think my family is going to let it master us,” said Otis Medley.
The family plans to stay in Denver for a couple more days before heading home to Florence.
Otis Medley said his family’s priorities are helping Caleb get better and continuing to care for each other.
