Theater Shooting Victims, Families Hear Closing Arguments 'He Wanted To Kill People'
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4)- Many of the victims of the Aurora theater shooting and families of those who were killed were in court on Tuesday for the closing arguments and reacted to the trial.
The gunman, James Holmes, faced more than 165 counts for the deadly shooting inside a movie theater on July 20, 2012.
Among them, Caleb Medley who was one of the first witnesses called to the stand. The aspiring comedian was critically injured and left a quadriplegic who can barely talk.
He and the other victims comforted one another throughout the trial.
Those who were in court nearly every day include Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, the parents of Jessica Ghawi who was killed inside the theater. They traveled to Colorado from Texas.
When asked if she felt that Holmes was mentally ill at the time of the shooting, Sandy replied, "I don't care if he's mentally ill or not, that's irrelevant to me. He wanted to kill people, he managed to do it and he should be held accountable. I actually think it's put mental illness back quite a ways."
Tom Teves, father of Alex Teves who was among those killed, held up a T-shirt he made with pictures of those who were killed in the shooting. He said his message is to never forget the victims.