News Wrap: Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ club mass killer sentenced to life in prison

In our news wrap Monday, the Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ club mass killer was sentenced to life in prison after a guilty plea, lawyers made closing arguments in the trial of a former sheriff's deputy charged with child neglect for not confronting the gunman during the 2018 Parkland school shooting and a new round of severe storms has claimed 3 more lives in parts of the Midwest.

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  • Amna Nawaz:

    In the day's other headlines: The plea was guilty, the sentence was life in prison for the murders of five people at a Colorado Springs nightclub last fall.

    The defendant entered guilty pleas at a livestreamed hearing, and survivors and victims relatives had their say.

    In a Colorado courtroom today, Stephanie Clark confronted the person who shot and killed her 35-year-old sister, Ashley Paugh, and recalled telling her niece that her mom was gone.

    Stephanie Clark, Sister of Ashley Paugh: The lives you have shattered and the sadness, anger and grief my family and I have to endure is overwhelming.

    Our lives are forever changed, and this is a whole other level of pain by the way she was taken from us. We never got to say our last goodbyes or "I love you"s before she was gone.

  • Amna Nawaz:

    Paugh was one of five people killed in the November 2022 mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs.

    The victims were Daniel Aston and Derrick Rump, both club employees, and Kelly Loving, Raymond Green Vance, and Ashley Paugh, all patrons.

    The shooter, Anderson Lee Aldrich, who identifies as nonbinary, used in AR-15-style rifle in the attack. Now 23 years old, they pled guilty and received one life sentence for each person killed, adding up to hundreds of years in prison.

    Kassandra Fierro was celebrating a friend's birthday on the night of the attack with her boyfriend of six years, Raymond Green Vance.

    Kassandra Fierro, Girlfriend of Raymond Green Vance: We, as victims, have to deal with the physical, emotional and psychological consequences of what this man has inflicted on us for the rest of our lives, for no reason other than the immense amount of hate this man has and chose to release on innocent people just trying to have a good night.

    I ask you, Your Honor, to please give this assailant the maximum possible sentence.

  • Amna Nawaz:

    For months, families argued the shooter should acknowledge their targeting of the LGBTQ community.

    But today's plea included no details for their motive, even as they pleaded no contest to bias-motivated crimes. The shooter could still be charged with federal hate crimes, as the impact from last year's mass shooting continues to ripple through this community.

    Colorado no longer has a death penalty, but a conviction on federal charges could still mean a death sentence for the shooter.

    In Florida, lawyers made closing arguments in a trial link to the 2018 Parkland school shootings that killed 14 students and three staffers. A former sheriff's deputy, Scot Peterson, is charged with child neglect for not confronting the gunman.

    Today, prosecutors condemned Peterson's inaction. The defense argued he had followed protocol.

  • Kristen Gomes, Florida Assistant State Attorney:

    The defendant was taught, as all police officers in Broward County, likely in this entire country since Columbine, that you move towards the sounds of gunshots and there is no other job that you should be doing in that moment. Get in, cause a distraction, and save lives.

  • Mark Eiglarsh, Criminal Defense Attorney:

    Every officer that responded to that scene, whether it be the 36-year veterans or those with less experience, all did exactly what they're trained. They take tactical positions of cover, because only in cheesy movies does the cop just walk around without a bulletproof vest and somehow walks like he's 10-foot-tall and bulletproof.

  • Amna Nawaz:

    This is the first trial for any law enforcement officer in the U.S. related to a school shooting.

    A new round of severe storms has claimed three more lives in parts of the Midwest. Video on Sunday captured a tornado outside Indianapolis as it ripped through at least 75 homes. A twister in Southern Indiana killed one man.

    Meanwhile, high winds blew a tree onto a home in Central Arkansas. Two people died there.

    In the Middle East, Israel's far right government approved plans today for another 5,000 homes in Jewish settlements across the occupied West Bank. The move defies U.S. appeals to halt expansion. It also follows a recent wave of violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians. It's not clear when construction will begin.

    The annual Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, officially began today in Saudi Arabia, back at full capacity after years of pandemic restrictions. Some two million Muslims finished the ritual circuit around the Kaaba in Mecca, then headed to camp in a vast tent city in the desert.

    Many said they overcame obstacles to their journey, including inflation.

  • Abu Anas Abu Rahal, Palestinian Pilgrim (through translator):

    for the sake of the Holy Mosque and seeing the Kaaba, saluting the prophet and standing on the pure Arafat Mountain, everything is worth it. But the economic conditions are really tough, and the prices are embarrassing.

  • Amna Nawaz:

    The Hajj is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. All Muslims are required to make the pilgrimage at least once, if they're able to do so.

    Back in this country, the Supreme Court cleared the way for resuming the legal challenge to Louisiana's congressional map. The Republican-drawn map has just one-majority Black district, and challengers say that violates the civil rights of Black residents, who make up one-third of the state's population. This month, the High Court struck down Alabama's congressional map on similar grounds.

    And on Wall Street today, the week got off to a slow start, as tech stocks lead the way lower. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 12 points to close at 33714. The Nasdaq fell 156 points, or 1 percent. The S&P 500 slipped 19.

    And a passing of note: John Goodenough, who helped create the widely used lithium ion battery, has died in Austin, Texas. Goodenough's work, along with others, revolutionized battery technology in the 1990s. Nearly 30 years later, he shared the Nobel Prize for chemistry for his accomplishments. John Goodenough was 100 years old.

    Still to come on the "NewsHour": President Biden lays out his plan to expand access to broadband Internet; many major retailers pull back their LGBTQ merchandise after conservative backlash; and two film critics take a look at the most anticipated summer movies.

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