Ashley Paugh was the type of person who "had a huge heart" and "would do anything for anyone," family members recalled Monday.
"She was an amazing sister, mom, daughter, wife, aunt and cousin," Paugh's sister Stephanie Clark told The Gazette by phone Monday in a tearful and emotional interview. "That coward took her away and I just want her back."
Paugh, 35, was among five people who were killed when a lone gunman opened fire late Saturday night at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs.
5 victims in Club Q mass shooting identified, as mourning continues around Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs officials said in a city news release Monday that 17 people were also injured with gunshot wounds, one person was wounded in another manner and one was a victim with no visible injuries.
Paugh had traveled to Colorado Springs from La Junta, where she lived, to see a standup comedian at Club Q Saturday night with a friend, Clark said.
Ashley Paugh, right, a 35-year-old wife and mother of an 11-year-old daughter, had driven from La Junta to Colorado Springs with a friend Saturday and went to Club Q to see a comedian perform, her sister Stephanie Clark, left, said.
Paugh was not part of the LGBTQ+ community, Clark said, but she had friends who are.
Club Q Shooting in Colorado Springs | Full Coverage
"I didn't ever think this would happen to my sister. She was my only sibling and she was taken from me," Clark said.
Paugh was married to her high school sweetheart, Kurt Paugh, and was mom to an 11-year-old daughter, Ryleigh.
Ashley Paugh was married to her high school sweetheart, Kurt Paugh, and was mom to an 11-year-old daughter, Ryleigh
"We're absolutely devastated by the loss of Ashley," Kurt Paugh said in a written statement Monday. "She meant everything to this family, and we can't even begin to understand what it will mean not to have her in our lives."
Kurt Paugh remembered his wife as loving and "an amazing mother" who made her daughter, a championship swimmer, "her whole world."
She also loved her dad, her sister and the rest of her family, including several nieces and nephews who were also grieving her loss, he said.
Ashley Paugh's natural tendency to help others was more than evident in her work with Kids Crossing, a Colorado Springs-based nonprofit that places foster children in loving homes, he said.
In that capacity, she traveled across southeastern Colorado to raise awareness and encourage families to become foster families, Kurt Paugh said. She often worked with the LGBTQ+ community to "find welcoming foster placements for children," he said.
At the holidays, she delivered "giving trees" to businesses so foster children "could have brighter holidays," Kurt Paugh said. Ashley Paugh was working on setting up those trees as recently as last week, he said.
Ashley Paugh also loved being outdoors and liked to hunt, fish and ride four-wheelers, he said.
"I am at a loss for words. I am just so sad," Clark said. "She was loved by so many and she was so wonderful. She would have done anything for anybody."