What we know so far about those killed in Saturday’s attack on Club Q in Colorado Springs that left five people dead and 25 injured:
Daniel Aston, 28
Bartender and resident entertainer Daniel called himself the “master of silly business” for his performances for the club’s patrons.
As a child in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he always wanted to make people laugh and cheer, his mother, Sabrina Aston, told the Associated Press. His repertoire included wearing silly hats and writing plays acted by neighborhood kids.
After coming out as transgender, he attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and became president of its LGBTQ+ club, his mother said.
He reveled in his act at Club Q, where his identity was allowed to breathe, according to his parents. “He lit up a room, always smiling, always happy and silly,” Mrs Aston said.
“I keep thinking it’s a mistake, they made a mistake, and that he is really alive. It’s just a nightmare that you can’t wake up from.”
Kelly Loving, 40
Kelly was on a weekend trip from her home in Denver when she was killed, friends said. The outgoing 40-year-old had just spoken to one friend on the phone before going to the nightclub.
“She was loving, always trying to help the next person out instead of thinking of herself. She just was a caring person. I was really close with her,” sister Tiffany Loving told the New York Times.
Natalee Skye Bingham said she became friends with Kelly when they lived in Florida years previously, and had been FaceTiming her immediately before the attack.
“I’m so devastated because she was such a good person. She was going to be at my house for Thanksgiving, now it’s one less person at my table.”
Bingham said her friend, who had only recently moved to Denver, the Colorado state capital, was “a tough woman”.
“She taught me how it was to be a trans woman and live your life day to day,” she said.
Derrick Rump, 38
Another bartender killed in the attack, Derrick, was described by friends as “a staple” of the LGBTQ+ nightclub.
“When I went to Club Q, Derrick was going to be there, guaranteed, every time,” his friend Anthony Jaramillo told CBS News.
“Loving, supportive, with a heavy hand in his drink pouring, and just a really good listener and would not be afraid to tell you when you were wrong instead of telling you what you wanted to hear, and that was really valuable.”
Derrick was originally from Berks county, Pennsylvania, but found a home in Colorado Springs and welcomed club-goers with the same warmth he would show his own family, colleagues said.
Jaramillo said he was devastated by the loss of his friend. “I guess I’m just waiting for someone to be like, ‘Oh, it’s the wrong Derrick’,” he said.
Ashley Paugh, 35
A sister said Ashley and a friend decided to end a day trip from their home in La Junta, 100 miles away, at Club Q, where they were planning to watch a standup comedian.
Stephanie Clark said her sister was a loving mother and wife, who leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter, according to NBC News.
“It just doesn’t seem real,” she said. “We’re heartbroken. We’re sad. We’re mad, angry.
“My niece is devastated. [Ashley] lived for her daughter.”
Clark said Ashley, who was not a member of the LGBTQ+ community herself, and her friend had been shopping and had a meal together before heading to the nightclub.
“Nothing will ever be the same without her,” she said. “Right now, I don’t want to laugh. She was a loving, caring person who would do anything for anybody. We’re going to miss her so much.”
Raymond Green Vance
Raymond Green Vance, 22, of Colorado Springs, graduated from Sand Creek high school in 2018, where he was popular and outgoing, lived at home with his mother and eight-year-old brother, got a job at FedEx and had been saving up for his own place, his mother, Adriana Vance, told the Washington Post.
“Even though my son didn’t discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, he wasn’t a part of the community. That was his first time going to the club,” Vance said. “Unfortunately, Raymond was there at the wrong time.”
Vance, 42, said she knew her son was accompanying his girlfriend and her family to the club, to which she had never been, but considered safe.
“He’s going to be greatly missed,” she said. “It’s like we’re still trying to wake up from a nightmare.”
