Crystal Lake Family of Shooting Victim Reacts to Guilty Verdict for James Holmes

Photo credit: John Larimer’s obituary

A Colorado jury returned a guilty verdict Thursday for James Holmes who opened fire on a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., in 2012, killing a 27-year-old Crystal Lake man and 11 others and injuring 70, including an Algonquin woman.

The parents and siblings of John Larimer, 27, sat through the three months of gruesome testimony during Holmes trial and were present when the judge read guilty 165 times to charges of murder, injuries and other related crimes, the Chicago Tribune reports.

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Holmes showed no reaction when the verdict was read, CNN reports. Several family members of victims that packed the Colorado courtroom on Thursday let out a sigh after the first guilty verdict was read and proceeded to comfort each other as the 100-plus counts were read.

Larimer’s aunt, Karen Lavin, cried while watching a live stream of the verdict from her office in Crystal Lake, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“At least this part of the nightmare is over,” Lavin told the newspaper. “It doesn’t bring John back.”

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Larimer was on a date with Julia Vojtsek, 26, formerly of Algonquin, when Holmes opened fire on the theater during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.” Larimer, a Navy petty officer, is credited with shielding Vojtsek from the gunfire and saving her life.

“John and I were seated in the middle area. When the violence occurred, John immediately and instinctively covered me and brought me to the ground in order to protect me from any danger,” Vojtsek said in a written statement given to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Vojtsek told the Chicago Tribune she had mixed feelings following Thursday’s verdict.

“But I do feel the guilty verdict is the first part of justice for the victims. (It’s) what’s deserved for the shooter,” she wrote in an e-mail to the Chicago Tribune.

Larimer, a Crystal Lake South graduate, and Vojtsek had known each other for six years but had only started dating in the weeks prior to the shooting, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Larimer had been stationed in Colorado at the time and Vojtsek was in Colorado because her father was working there, the newspaper reports.

Holmes now faces the death penalty. The sentencing phase is expected to start next Wednesday and last a month, according to CNN.

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