Lisa Damiani, lawyer of alleged shooter James Egan Holmes, told reporters that parents of the 24-year-old who opened fire in a packed movie house in Aurora during the mid-night running of the Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 and seriously injuring 59, stands by him through this time of trial.
"He's their son. I think everyone can imagine how they're feeling...anyone who's ever been a parent," Damiani told ABC News.
But what about Arelene Holmes' (Holmes) telling ABC News that "they have the right person,"? as reported by the news network. To this Mrs. Holmes clarifies, that the network called her, and "I did not know anything about a shooting in Aurora at that time,"
In a statement released Tuesday, she says that someone (Mathew Mosk, producer of ABC News) from ABC News called and "asked if I was Arlene Holmes and if my son was James Holmes, who lives in Aurora, Colorado. I answered yes, you have the right person. I was referring to myself. I asked him to tell me why he was calling and he told me about a shooting in Aurora. He asked for a comment. I told him I could not comment because I did not know if the person he was talking about was my son and I would need to find out," as reported by The Global Post.
The parents of the alleged shooter also deny being contacted by the Colorado police regarding the matter. On Monday, Colorado Police Chief Daniel Oates told reporters that the family of Holmes was not "talking to us (the police) right now...Maybe that will change, but right now they are not talking to us," according to Good Morning America on ABC.
On Monday, 24-year-old James Egan Holmes made his first appearance in court after the fatal shooting. He has been kept Holmes in solitary confinement at an Arapahoe County detention facility since arrest on Friday.
Holmes will likely be charged with first-degree murder and possibly aggravated assault and weapon violations. He will be formally charged later this week.
Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney Carol Chambers told News Day that she is considering pursuing the death penalty, but only after consulting with the victims and their families.
Holmes showed up to court looking rather absent minded with bright orange hair. He did not speak.
