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Arkansas soldier shooter pleads guilty, gets life
A terrorist who carried out a deadly shooting at an Arkansas military recruiting station pleaded guilty to his crimes in an Arkansas courtroom Monday, receiving a life sentence without parole and avoiding the death penalty.Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 26, a convert to Islam, had already confessed to the 2009 crime, in which he drove to the recruiting office in Little Rock and fired numerous rounds, killing one soldier and injuring another. Police said he told them he had done so to protest the U.S. military and "what they had done to Muslims in the past." But Muhammad originally pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges. Muhammad's jury trial, which began last week, was noteworthy for taking place in state court. Other terrorism-related cases since the Sept. 11 attacks have been tried in federal courts, but none have resulted in a death sentence. On Monday morning prosecutors received his written plea offer. The prosecuting attorney said his office relayed the offer to the families of the victims, Army Pvts. William Long, 23, and Quinton Ezeagwula, who then decided they could tolerate a life sentence. Ezeagwula's mother, Sonja, 46, said in a telephone interview that she was not entirely satisfied with the outcome. Her son, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, still has dozens of bullet fragments in his body, and suffers major physical and psychological pain. And she did not think that Muhammad was remorseful. "Who's to say if he's in prison he won't recruit other people who think the way he thinks?" she said. Posted by: ryuge 2011-07-26 |
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