CENTENNIAL, CO (AP) -- Making his first court appearance following Friday's mass shooting, suspect James Holmes appeared before a judge for what's being called an "initial advisement".

A decision on official charges and whether to pursue the death penalty is expected to come later.

It's the first real look the public has had of the suspect who has been held in solitary confinement since being taken into custody within in minutes of the shooting early Friday morning. Until now we've only seen his picture.

But as the community of Aurora, CO, continues to struggle with the horror that happened hear Friday, the police chief says one thing is certain.

“We will get a conviction," said Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates.

The father of one Colorado shooting victim sat staring at suspect James Holmes during his first court appearance.

Tom Teves sat in the front row Monday as a judge advised Holmes of the allegations against him. His son Alex Teves was killed in the Friday shooting at a packed movie theater.

Two women held hands tightly, one shaking her head.

Holmes showed little emotion during the hearing, which appeared to anger some family members of victims who attended.

David Sanchez, who waited outside the courthouse during Holmes' hearing, said his pregnant daughter escaped uninjured but her husband was shot in the head and was in critical condition. His daughter was delivering their baby on Monday.

Evidence has been collected from the alleged gunman's apartment now disarmed of deadly explosives.

"We can think about possible defenses for this guy well one thing that is probably going to be clear to anyone is there was a lot of deliberation in what this person did."

Sunday night the grieving community came together for a memorial service to remember the victims.

In a poignant moment, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper read the names of those who died in the attack.

A scarred community forced to cope with an unimaginable tragedy as it gets ready for what could be a lengthy court process.