Aurora shooting massacre victims

Ashley Moser drifted in and out of consciousness in the ICU, bullets lodged in her throat and a gunshot wound to her abdomen. In her waking moments, she called for her 6-year-old daughter Veronica.

Nobody had the heart to tell the 25-year-old mother that Veronica was already dead, the youngest victim killed at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

"All she's asking about, of course, is her daughter," said Ashley Moser's aunt Annie Dalton. "She was a vibrant 6-year-old. She was excited; she'd just learned how to swim. She was a great little girl, excited about life -- she should be at 6 years old."

The young girl was among the 12 people killed when a gunman barged into the theater early Friday morning, set off gas canisters and opened fire as spectators dived for cover. Dozens of others were injured, including Ashley Moser and 10 others in critical condition.

The following is a look at the others slain:

JONATHAN BLUNK

Blunk, 26, formerly of Sparks, Nev., was identified by his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Ramirez. A Navy veteran, he left the service in 2009 and, after separating from his wife, moved to Colorado, where he worked for a hardware store.

Jansen Young told NBC News that she felt Blunk, who she said is her boyfriend, give her one final push under a seat to shield her -- a move she believes saved her life. "Jon just took a bullet for me," Young, a 21-year-old who recently became a certified veterinarian technician, told the "Today" show.

His estranged wife, Chantel Blunk, told NBC News that he "always talked about if he were going to die, he wanted to die a hero."

ALEXANDER 'AJ' BOIK

Candice Brown broke down when she received confirmation that her Gateway High School friend AJ Boik was among the dead. "It is indescribable he is gone. It makes me sick," she said.

Boik, 18, of Aurora, couldn't get enough of comic books and comic book movies -- he saw "The Avengers" four times. The relentlessly happy teenager, who graduated from the local high school just weeks ago, was with his girlfriend Lasamoa Cross, whom he planned to marry. She survived; he did not.

Brown's friend, Michal Westrich, described Boik as a pool ace whose main concern was making everybody laugh. "If you looked anything but happy, he would come up to you and say, 'This ain't working, you got to smile.' "

JESSE CHILDRESS

Childress, 29, died after he was taken to a hospital, military officials said Saturday.

The staff sergeant was an Air Force reservist, a cyber-systems operator with the 310 Force Support Squadron, according to the military. His unit is based at Buckley Air Force Base.

GORDON COWDEN

Cowden, 51, of Aurora, is the oldest victim in the massacre. He grew up in Austin, Texas, and is the father of four children, his friend Jane Gibson told NBC News. "I had texted him yesterday to see how he was [after hearing of the shooting], I never heard back from him."

JESSICA GHAWI

A blogger and aspiring sports reporter who recently wrote about surviving a Toronto shooting was also among those killed, the woman's brother said. The death of Ghawi, 24, who was also known as Jessica Redfield, was a "complete and utter shock," said her brother, Jordan Ghawi.

Jessica moved to Denver from Texas about a year ago, and friends and colleagues described her as outgoing, smart and witty. She blogged at length about surviving the Eaton Centre mall shooting in Toronto in June that killed two people and sent several others to the hospital.

Peter Burns, a radio sports show host with Mile High Sports Radio in Denver, and his girlfriend, Lauren Anuskewicz, both said the blog reflected everything she told them. Ghawi wrote of the Toronto shooting: "I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders' faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath."

JOHN LARIMER

Larimer, 27, was a petty officer third class with a Navy unit that belongs to U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. His parents released a statement that Navy officials notified them around midnight that their son was one of the 12 killed.

The family said that Larimer's brother is working with the Navy to take his body home to Crystal Lake, Ill. "We respectfully ask that the family and friends of John be allowed time and privacy to grieve for John," the family said in a statement from their home.

MATT MCQUINN

McQuinn, 27, originally from St. Paris, Ohio, was killed after diving in front of his girlfriend Samantha Yowler, who was wounded, and her older brother, Nick, to shield them from the gunfire, according to his family's attorney, Rob Scott of Dayton, Ohio.

According to the Dayton Daily News, McQuinn's stepmother, Stacie McQuinn, said the hospital would not tell Yowler, who underwent surgery Friday, about her boyfriend's condition because the two were not related.

McQuinn met Yowler at the Springfield, Ohio, Target store. The two transferred to a Target in Denver last November.

MICAYLA MEDEK

Medek, 23, was also among the dead, her father's cousin, Anita Busch, told The Associated Press.

Busch said the news, while heartbreaking, was a relief for the family after an agonizing day of waiting for news. "I hope this evil act . . . doesn't shake people's faith in God," she said.

Cayla, as she liked to be called, worked at Subway and described herself on Facebook as "a simple, independent girl who's just trying to get her life together while still having fun."

Her aunt, Jenny Zakovich, of South Milwaukee, Wis., said Micayla's friends told family members they tried to carry her out of the theater but were instructed to leave her.

ALEX SULLIVAN

For Sullivan, it was to be a weekend of fun: He planned to ring in his 27th birthday with friends at the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" and then celebrate his first wedding anniversary on Sunday.

Late Friday, Sullivan's family confirmed that police told them he was among those killed. "He was a very, very good young man," said Sullivan's uncle, Joe Loewenguth. "He always had a smile, always made you laugh. He had a little bit of comic in him. Witty, smart. He was loving; had a big heart."

ALEX TEVES

Teves, 24, was from Arizona and recently earned his master's degree in counseling psychology from the University of Denver. His father, Tom, confirmed his son's death to ABC News.

Friends of Teves began posting on social media sites Friday night after learning that he was among the 12 people killed.

The Arizona Republic reported that Teves' personal Facebook page lists him as a 2010 graduate of the University of Arizona, and a 2006 graduate of Desert Vista High School in Phoenix.

REBECCA WINGO

Wingo, 32, of Aurora, who listed Joe's Crab Shack as her employer on Facebook, has two small children and other family in California. She had gone to the midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" with a friend, Marcus Weaver, who was wounded.

According to the Denver Post, her father, Steve Hernandez, wrote on Facebook: "I lost my daughter yesterday to a mad man, my grief right now is inconsolable, I hear she died instantly, without pain, however the pain is unbearable."

Friends said Saturday that Wingo's parents also posted a message about Wingo's death on Wingo's own Facebook page. That page shows a picture of two young girls.

A friend, Gail Riffle, brought two teddy bears, one pink and one white, to the memorial site near the movie theater for Wingo's daughters, as well as roses for Wingo's parents. "Everybody is hurting right now," Riffle said. "She was a gentle, sweet, beautiful soul."