Club Q shooter expected to take plea deal, former El Paso County DA weighs in on impact to victims

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The Associated Press reports that the accused Club Q Shooter, Anderson Aldrich, is expected to take a plea deal at the next court date on June 26. It's a deal that would ensure a mandatory life in prison sentence for the accused killer.

The suspect is accused of gunning down five people inside the Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ nightclub Club Q last November. More than a dozen others were injured in the shooting.

Hours after AP's reporting, 13 Investigates spoke with former El Paso County District Attorney Dan May, who held office for 12 years before he was succeeded by current DA Michael Allen in early 2021, on the possible plea deal.

May said offering a plea deal in a case like this ensures that the victims and their families get justice in an expedited way without a long, drawn-out court process.

"The prosecutor on the case gets to decide whether they take a deal or not, whether they go to trial or not. You very much want to work with the victims. You try to get on the same page and you try to arrive at the same goals," May said.

On May 19, the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office filed a motion in the case against the accused killer where they stated there is a "near-unanimous sentiment for the most expedient determination of case-related issues."

"Every victim is traumatized by the event, whether they were there that day or whether a loved one was injured or killed or otherwise. They're very traumatized coming to court," May said of how victims react to the judicial process. "Some victims want to come to court to be able to confront that. There's still that anxiety as you go there, that confrontation that they're sort of feeling in the courtroom."

Another important role plea-bargaining plays in a case like the one against the Club Q shooter is how it would factor in an appeal process one day. If the case goes to trial, even with a potential conviction, the suspect would be eligible to appeal a conviction. However, if the accused pleads guilty, that possibility would be off the table, according to May.

"In Colorado, on a murder case, it's automatic. They have to have a first appeal, but you can appeal three years later, five years later, ten years later, 20 years later, 30 years later, I've seen appeals that, you know, just go on and on forever," May said. "Each time that appeal comes up, you're contacting the victim. They're going through it again."

May said he has prosecuted cases that take years to reach a final disposition in court. The former DA says that the process can also weigh on victims who are searching for justice.

"It just hangs over everybody. It's just a huge weight on the victims, the family members, each time they go in there, they're remembering their loved one that passed away and it's just traumatic for them," May said.

The AP reports that the accused killer "expressed remorse" for the actions committed in November in recorded jail-house phone interviews with AP reporters. May told 13 Investigates that behavior is "pretty unusual," and only happens in a few cases each year.

"I'll handle 35,000 cases a year and you'll hear about this once or twice every couple of years," May said.

In February, KRDO spoke with Club Q victim Phylisha Collins, who had a bullet pierce her neck, an inch left of her spine, exiting her mouth. The wound shattered her jaw and left her without teeth on the left side.

She expressed that there "is no justice" for the suspect's "actions," actions that she will have to live with for the rest of her life. Collins said the anger, the unanswered 'whys' echo within her.

May said he's heard this sentiment echoed by many victims during his tenure as DA, feelings that even a guilty verdict, and a life in prison sentence, will not be true justice for crime victims.

"You can't bring the person back. You can't take those events away. We can help them with their PTSD, but it always sort of is there. They're dealing with it," May said. "But that doesn't mean that they get past it. Those who have lost loved ones, we can never fill that hole in their heart that they've lost. They will always feel that loss."

One of the men credited with taking the down accused killer, possibly preventing even more bloodshed, provided 13 Investigates with the following statement on the suspect's alleged "remorse" and AP's reporting.

I will say in this article he showed no accountability or remorse, his comments were all self centered excuses for his planned actions that night and to seek pity from public. It's a disgusting article

Richard Fierro

Fierro also lost someone close to him that night, his daughter's boyfriend Raymond Green Vance.