After more than a year of medication and psychological evaluations, Jared Lee Loughner was deemed competent to stand trial and pleaded guilty today to nineteen counts in the 2011 massacre that killed six people and wounded thirteen, including former Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Loughner, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, will serve life in prison with no parole under the deal, but cannot be put to death. “Gabby and I have been in contact with the US Attorneys’ Office throughout this process. We don’t speak for all of the victims or their families, but Gabby and I are satisfied with this plea agreement,” said Giffords’s husband Mark Kelly in a statement. “The pain and loss caused by the events of January 8, 2011 are incalculable. Avoiding a trial will allow us — and we hope the whole Southern Arizona community — to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives.”
