Colorado gay club shooting victims

The community is honoring the five victims one year after the killings. More than a dozen others were also injured in the shooting. ABC News went to Colorado Springs earlier this year to speak with survivors about their recovery, resilience and stories about the ones they lost in the tragedy.

Friends, family, and community members described Aston's wit, Loving's fighting spirit, Rump's humor, Vance's soft nature and Paugh's charisma. Daniel, a bartender at Club Q, was someone people could open up to, according to his close friends and partner. Daniel was hailed as a star writer, who wrote poems and letters that now leave his loved ones in tears.

Kent found the poem wrapped in bubble and plastic wrap on the windshield of his car while he was at work. Daniel lived across the way from Hysteria Brooks, a drag queen who also worked at Club Q. Brooks was all smiles and laughter when reminiscing on their friendship.

Club Q Colorado shooting: Attack was ended by dad and show performer

Daniel, a transgender man, acted as a resource for the LGBTQ community in the Springs by directing people to the right resources, raising money for trans people in need, and answering questions about trans-affirming care. They continued, "I can't say enough good things about him.

He was what I consider to be one of the most queer people, like he loved anything queer, queer art, queer people, he just he lived for it all. Derrick was the first person John Arcediano met when he moved there from New York, a welcoming face in a new city eager to hear his stories. Derrick was also the shooting for Svetlana Haim's first ever date with a woman.

She smiles as she tells the story, club marked the beginnings of a close friendship. I'm on a date. Do you think she likes me? He was described as both sassy and sweet -- who loved drama but was a "protector" of his friends, according to Brooks. Ashtin Gamblin, one of his close friends, joked that she and Derrick were running themselves poor with the amount of things they did together.

Raymond's family still expects him to walk into the room at any moment, popping up out of the victim as he used to do. Raymond was a gentle giant -- a tall, soft-spoken man full of life and dreams, his mother and grandparents told ABC News. He had a long-term girlfriend and had recently started a new job that he enjoyed.

He was a great big brother. His little brother Marcus used to climb on Vance and "beat up on him" and Raymond would "just act like he wasn't even doing anything to him," said Gay. But that soft-spoken nature went away when he was playing video games, they remember fondly: "He was a battalion commander, shouting orders," said his grandfather, Ron Bell.

Raymond had a thirst for travel -- often traveling with his grandparents and immersing himself in the activities they did together. They continued to learn more about Raymond after he passed, hearing new stories about friends they had never met. And so in a way he kind of left his own legacy.

Kelly had marked new chapters in her colorado just before the tragedy, according to her loved ones.