Victim of Colorado shootings recalled

The Associated Press

PHOENIX -- An Arizona man who was among the Colorado movie theater shooting victims was cremated this week, as his father remembered him as having a gift for defusing tense situations and a "heart of gold."

Alex Teves and 11 others were shot and killed last Friday in Aurora, Colo., at a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."

Services were held yesterday in Denver for another victim, Micayla Medek, 23.

Teves, who grew up in Phoenix and graduated from an Arizona high school and college, died while shielding his girlfriend from the gunfire. His father, Tom Teves, said his wife did not get a chance to say goodbye before their son was cremated because he didn't want her to see the badly wounded body.

"He was one of the kindest kids who always gave of himself," Tom Teves said. "You won't find anyone who has a bad word to say about him, and that was true even before he died."

James Holmes is accused of opening fire in a theater, killing the dozen people and injuring 58. He is to be formally charged in a court hearing Monday in Colorado.

Tom Teves said he was on vacation in Hawaii with his wife and two other sons when they got the news from his son's girlfriend. Alex Teves recently earned his master's degree in psychology and was planning to become a physical therapist, his father said.

At Medek's funeral, mourners wore pink ribbons, some with Hello Kitty faces on them, in honor of her fondness for the color and the character. Her young second cousin, Kailyn Vigil, sobbed and some family members had to be supported as the coffin was placed in the hearse.

Medek attended Aurora Community College and worked at a Subway sandwich shop. Family members described her as loving and independent-minded.

Visiting was yesterday for theater victim Alex Sullivan, known as a gentle man with a glowing smile. His funeral will be private.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson visited Aurora, meanwhile, to meet with shooting victims and renew his call for a ban on assault weapons. He visited Holmes' apartment building and said it shouldn't be legal for anyone to be able to arm himself more heavily than police.

Jackson planned to meet privately with a victim's family and to visit a memorial outside the theater.