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Theater Shooting Survivor: 'It's A No-Win Situation'

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4)- There was strong reaction to the verdict that spared the life of the gunman in the Aurora theater shooting, both positive and negative.

On Friday, the jury failed to agree on the death penalty so James Holmes was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Some survivors and family of victims believed the death penalty was the only option and others hoped the jury would spare Holmes' life.

"I think this is just a no-win situation. I mean, for the families in there, you can't bring life back," said survivor Karen Gomez. "For the families, you've lost somebody. There's no way for anybody to win in this situation."

Holmes showed no emotion as he stood before the judge when the verdict was read in court. The official sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 24 and is expected to last three days.

"When you look at what happened in light of this, that's not justice," said Robert Sullivan, Veronica Moser-Sullivan's grandfather.

Sue and Robert Sullivan
Sue and Robert Sullivan (credit: CBS)

AURORA THEATER SHOOTING: Story Archive | Timeline | Remembering The Victims

Jurors convicted James Holmes on July 16 on 24 counts of first-degree murder, two counts for each person murdered in the July 20, 2012 attack inside an Aurora movie theater. That made Holmes eligible for the death penalty. He was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder, two counts for each of the 70 people he injured that night.

Families of the 12 victims had varying opinions about the verdict including the parents of Jessica Ghawi who, at first, were against the death penalty.

"Our lives are forever altered and the thought that this monster gets to have visitations with h is parents, gets to receive mail and pictures from his very strange girlfriends is very hard to accept," said Ghawi's mother Sandy Phillips.

Jessica Ghawi's parents Sandy Phillips
Jessica Ghawi's mother Sandy Phillips (credit: CBS)

A life sentence is one the many relatives and survivors who sat in the courtroom every day knew was a possibility.

When asked if this was the sentence that she wanted, Gomez replied, "No, but I think this way it saves these families from having to come back again and again for appeals and I think this is the best solution that the jurors could come up with and they had a tough job."

"The decision that was made is not one that I would make," said A.J. Boik's uncle Dave Hoover.

Hoover said he will live by the words A.J.'s mother shared before she passed away during the trial, "Tomorrow the sun will come up. We're going to have a little more pain, a little more hurt in our lives, but the sun will come up and there will still be love in our lives."

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