The mother (click here) of Colorado theatre shooter James Holmes gave an impromptu public apology Wednesday, telling a judge during his sentencing hearing that her son feels remorse but his mental illness and medications made it hard for him to express it.
Arlene Holmes took the stand after more than 100 victims and survivors of the 2012 attack testified about the searing physical and emotional scars the shooting has left.
"We cannot feel the depths of your pain. We can only listen. ... And we pray for you," she said through tears. "We are very sorry this tragedy happened and sorry everyone has suffered so much."
Standing at a lectern with her husband, Robert, by her side, she told Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. that she has been researching mental illness and ways to prevent mass violence.
"I am not proud I didn't know more about mental illness. We should have known our family history better and realised that the signs of mental illness can appear at a very early age," said Holmes, who previously testified that she didn't know her son suffered schizophrenia until after he killed 12 people and injured scores more in the attack....
...Marriages ended. Friendships shattered. Toni Billapando, who was shot and whose friend, Alex Sullivan, was killed, wondered about the effects of the shooting on her son, now 3. He was born just two weeks after the attack, as Billapando was recovering from her wounds. She was married at the time. Now, she's divorced.
"Imagine telling your child that monsters are real and not to be afraid of the dark when you're scared of the dark yourself," said another survivor, Stephanie Davies, who also has an 8-month-old son. She went to the theatre with her best friend, cradling her when she was shot. Now, the two no longer speak. "It was easier to heal ourselves in our own messed-up ways," Davies said in a statement read aloud by a prosecutor.
- AP
