Isaac Pacheo, who said he was a good friend of theater shooting victim Alex Sullivan, is comforted, Saturday, July 21, 2012, as he visits a memorial near the movie theater in Aurora, Colo. Twelve people were killed and dozens were injured in the attack early Friday at the packed theater during a showing of the Batman movie, "Dark Knight Rises." Police have identified the suspected shooter as James Holmes, 24. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Isaac Pacheo, who said he was a good friend of theater shooting victim Alex Sullivan, is comforted, Saturday, July 21, 2012, as he visits a memorial near the movie theater in Aurora, Colo. Twelve people were killed and dozens were injured in the attack early Friday at the packed theater during a showing of the Batman movie, "Dark Knight Rises." Police have identified the suspected shooter as James Holmes, 24. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Tom Sullivan, center, embraces family members outside Gateway High School where he has been searching franticly for his son Alex Sullivan who celebrated his 27th birthday by going to see "The Dark Knight Rises," movie where a gunman opened fire Friday, July 20, 2012, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)
This undated photo provided by the Larimer family shows John Larimer. Relatives have identified Larimer, a U.S. Navy sailor, as one of the victims killed by a gunman at a showing of the new Batman movie, early Friday, July 20, 2012, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/Larimer family)
Three helicopters make a flyover of the Century Theater on Saturday, July 21, 2012 in Aurora, Colo. Twelve people were killed and dozenswere injured in the attack early Friday at the packed theater during a showing of the Batman movie, "Dark Knight Rises." Police have identified the suspected shooter as James Holmes, 24. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)
Shelly Fradkin, the mother of a friend of shooting victim Alex Sullivan, places balloons to mark Sullivan's birthday at a makeshift memorial across from the Century 16 theatre east of the Aurora Mall in Aurora, Colo., on Saturday, July 21, 2012. Twelve people were killed and dozens were injured in the attack early Friday at the packed theater during a showing of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises." Police have identified the suspected shooter as James Holmes, 24. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
AURORA, Colo. (AP) ? Ashley Moser drifted in and out of consciousness in the ICU, bullets lodged in her throat and abdomen. In her waking moments, she called for her 6-year-old daughter Veronica.
Nobody had the heart to tell her that Veronica was already dead, the youngest victim killed at a Colorado movie theater in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.
"Nobody can tell her about it," Annie Dalton said of her aunt, Ashley Moser. "She is in critical condition, but all she's asking about is her daughter."
Veronica just started swimming lessons on Tuesday, Dalton said.
"She was excited about life as she should be. She's a 6-year-old girl," her great-aunt said
The young girl was among the 12 people killed when a gunman barged into a crowded Colorado theater, set off gas canisters and opened fire as spectators dove for cover. Dozens of others were injured, including the 25-year-old Ashley Moser and 10 others in critical condition as of Friday night.
The victims' identities have emerged one by one after authorities told their families of their deaths. By late Saturday morning, relatives and family spokesmen had confirmed the identities of half of those who died.
One is 27-year-old Matt McQuinn. His family's attorney, Rob Scott of Dayton, Ohio, said McQuinn was killed after diving in front of his girlfriend and her older brother to shield them from the gunfire. Scott's account could not be immediately verified.
For Alex Sullivan, it was to be a weekend of fun: He planned to ring in his 27th birthday with friends at the special 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."
Micayla 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.
On Saturday morning, parents of John Larimer released a statement that Navy officials notified them about midnight that their 27-year-old 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. He was with a unit that belongs to U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. Tenth Fleet at Buckley Air Force.
A blogger and aspiring sports reporter who recently wrote of surviving a Toronto shooting was also among those killed, the woman's brother said.
The death of Jessica Ghawi, who was also known as Jessica Redfield, was a "complete and utter shock," said her brother, Jordan Ghawi.
He has been using his blog and Twitter account to update what he knew about his sister's condition. He also appeared on the NBC "Today" show.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said Friday evening that 10 victims died at the theater and two others later died from their injuries.
Jordan Ghawi said on his website that a man who was with his sister at the theater described the chaos, saying he and Jessica Ghawi dropped to take cover when the gunman first started shooting. Jessica Ghawi was shot in the leg, her brother wrote, describing details relayed to him by a man identified on the blog only as a mutual friend named Brent.
The man was then shot, but he continued attending to Jessica Ghawi's wound before he realized she had stopped screaming, Jordan Ghawi stated. The man said Jessica Ghawi had been shot in the head.
Jessica Ghawi, 24, moved to Denver from Texas about a year ago and friends and colleagues described her as outgoing, smart and witty.
Ghawi blogged at length about surviving the Eaton Centre mall shooting in Toronto that killed two people and sent several others to the hospital.
Jessica 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."
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