Aurora movie theater shooting suspect James Holmes at his first court appearance (Creative Commons).

Holmes, 24, was also formally charged with one count of possession of explosives and 116 counts of attempted murder, the Associated Press reported.

The murder and attempted murder represent two counts for each of the slain and wounded victims in the shooting because prosecutors charged Holmes under two separate theories of first-degree murder, The Denver Post reported. One is murder after deliberation and the other is murder with extreme indifference.

Victims of the shooting and many of their relatives went to the Arapahoe County Courthouse to hear the charges.

Thirty-five courtroom seats were reserved for victims and their family members, the Los Angeles Times reported. Relatives of the youngest shooting victims, 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, said they came to support each other.

Mary Hansen, an aunt of Veronica’s mother, told the Times they were also there to see the accused shooter and “to have some sense of who he is, like a character study almost, to put a name and face together.”

Rita Paulina and her husband, Anggiat Mora, also attended the hearing. Paulina was wounded during the shooting and was brought into the court in a wheelchair, the Times reported, still wearing hospital bracelets and one of her legs wrapped in gauze. Mora said they attended the hearing to “continue what happened at last week’s” hearing. 

Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58. He was arrested early July 20 outside a Century 16 theater’s emergency exit during a midnight showing of the new Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Dist. Atty. Carol Chambers is expected to seek the death penalty against Holmes, according to the Times. The former doctorate student’s public defenders could pursue an insanity defense on his behalf.  

For Monday’s hearing, The Washington Post reported, District Court Judge William Blair Sylvester has barred cameras and all electronic equipment from the courtroom.

Read more of Neon Tommy’s coverage on the Colorado shooting here.

Reach Executive Producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.