After his parents’ killing, Colin Hortman is working through grief, searching for ways to honor them
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Colin Hortman’s eight-month journey through grief brought cherished memories flooding back in vivid fashion while leaving him with fuzziness over the more recent times since his parents were killed in their home.
“The first three months, I think, they went by in the blink of an eye,” Colin Hortman told MPR News in his first extended interview since the assassinations of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and husband, Mark. “There’s many parts I don’t remember. And then it has just been a very long healing journey.”
His reflections come as the Minnesota Legislature returns to the Capitol for the first time since the Hortmans were fatally shot in June. Lawmakers will use the first day to honor them and celebrate the recovery of another couple, state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who each survived multiple gunshot wounds by a man authorities say carried out both early-morning attacks.
Members of the Hortman family will be in attendance Tuesday as well as therapy dogs as an honor to Gilbert, the family pet also killed on June 14, 2025.
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Colin and Sophie Hortman have largely avoided the public spotlight since then — other than to praise their late parents, push for acts of service on their behalf or condemn disrespectful political rhetoric.
In the MPR News interview first airing Tuesday, Colin said he’s wrestled for the last eight months with what he wanted or needed to say and with how to turn natural rage into something more productive. He thinks back to a St. Francis of Assissi prayer card his mother carried with her.
“I didn’t know quite how to carry on their legacy or their words or their values. And I think just going back to that peace prayer and figuring out how I can fit into the world and bring peace into the world,” he said. “If I can contribute to a more peaceful, loving world, that would be great.”
Colin said he’s in therapy. He’s making his way through the book “It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok.” And he’s starting to find more reasons to smile. He was married in December and said his wife is his rock. At their wedding, the guests — including family, friends, Gov. Tim Walz and first lady Gwen Walz – broke out in song: “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
“On our wedding day, it was like the first time I actually felt real joy again,” he said.
Colin fondly looks back at how his politically famous mom and lower-key father modeled marriage and parenthood: Maintaining their cool even in moments of frustration, punctually showing up to family dinners and swim meets after marathon days at work and preparing those delectable cakes on birthdays.
“My mom was really big into cake. She loved baking,” Colin said. “That’s how we remember her is like, our mom, yeah, she was the speaker and she was a state rep for 20 years. But she didn’t really talk politics at home.”
He added, “I think that her and my dad were just like always parents first, and we were their favorite community.”
Melissa Hortman’s stature from 21 years in the Legislature, including six as House speaker, left behind ample recordings, videos and pictures for her children to revisit. They’ve had to do more to compile recorded memories of Mark, a computer code programmer who was passionate about independent rock music.
“Sophie and I have started a collection of videos of my dad,” Colin said. “We have a dedicated Mark folder.”
Colin returned this week to the Brooklyn Park house where he spent childhood years and where his parents were killed. He said it is now cleaned but the family is dealing with insurance issues.
He said he wants to return one day to make the margarita his mother would drink or the whiskey with cherries his dad would sip — all while eating a slice of rhubarb custard pie.
“Because that’s the only thing that was in the house that was, like, completely untouched and undisturbed, like a week after,” Colin said. He thinks it was their way of winding down after attending a Democratic Party fundraiser earlier that night.
Colin said he and his sister have been approached about various formal tributes to their parents, perhaps naming a memorial highway in the northwest suburbs to them given Melissa Hortman’s ardent advocacy for Highway 610 funding.
A more powerful nod, Colin said, could be in the way lawmakers in Minnesota and beyond comport themselves, trading the temptation for those searing soundbites for substantive and respectful debate. He said the social media algorithms that add to the polarization also need to be addressed.
The Hortman children are exploring the creation of a foundation in their parents’ honor and are having conversations with experts in that field before a launch. Colin said he’s working to connect with organizations aiming to tamp down overheated political rhetoric that can be a catalyst for violence.
“It feels meaningful, and I understand it firsthand. It’s not theoretical to me,” he said. “It’s very real.”
Listen to the interview by clicking the player above. A longer interview with Colin will air Friday, Feb. 20, at noon for Politics Friday.
