James Holmes 'Never Harmed Anyone' Until Massacre, Mom Says

Arlene Holmes smiled at her son James as she sat down in the witness box, stuttering as nerves caused her to misspell her middle name.

But she soon had the courtroom's attention as she made a desperate bid to save his life as he faces the death penalty for the 2012 Aurora, Colorado massacre.

She revealed how three years ago, her life changed forever when an early morning phone call woke she and her husband and she was told that there had been a mass shooting in a Colorado movie theater.

At first, the Holmes thought her son had been shot; but they were shocked to find out he was actually the one with the guns.

"He never harmed anyone...ever...ever...until July 20, 2012," she said.

The defendant was convicted of killing 12 people and injuring 70 more this past July 16. The jury is now in the penalty phase deciding whether or not the former neuroscience graduate student should receive life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection.

Arlene Holmes, who has only missed two days of the three-and-a-half month trial, appeared to blame the psychiatrist who saw her son seven times From March 2012 until about a month before the shooting.

Dr. Lynne Fenton was treating the shooter for social anxiety when he abruptly left her care and quit the University of Colorado on June 11th. Concerned, the psychiatrist called Arlene Holmes that same day to let her know that her son had quit school, but did not tell her that the shooter had confided to her his thoughts of killing people 3-4 times a day.

"Do you wish she had?" asked public defender Rebekka Higgs. "Of course," Holmes' voice broke. "We wouldn't be sitting here if she would have told me that...He never said he wanted to kill people. She didn't tell me. She didn't tell me. She didn't tell me."

Reaction among the jury ranged from what appeared to be sadness to no emotion at all as home movies played showing a young defendant in happier times.

The gallery, which is often crowded, has been almost empty during this mitigation phase. Families who have shown up during this time bring books and crossword puzzles to keep their minds off of the humanization of the man many of them call "monster."

Thursday the jury will deliberate to decide whether the mitigating factors will prevail, meaning Holmes would get life without parole. But if the jury believes the horrors of the murders outweigh his Americana upbringing, they will then enter a third phase during which they will decide if he should get the death penalty.

Arlene Holmes' husband, Bob, testified before her, telling the court in a soft-spoken voice that their son was an "excellent kid."

But DA George Brauchler pointed out that Mr. Holmes rarely emailed or called his son, and couldn't remember that as an eight year old, his behavior was so severe that they took him to multiple therapy session.

When the jury found him guilty, the 9 women and 3 men soundly rejected her son's insanity plea.

Still, Arlene Holmes hopes her testimony will sway them not to kill her son. "Schizophrenia chose him. He didn't choose it," she told them. "And I still love my son. I still do."