Gunmen Who Killed Five at Capital Gazette Newspaper Found Criminally Responsible, Faces Life in Prison

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A jury on Thursday found the man behind the shooting in a Maryland newsroom three years ago criminally responsible.

The decision by the jury, which took less than two hours, all but ensures that Jarrod Ramos will serve a life sentence behind bars for the June 2018 shooting inside the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, where five people were killed and two others were injured.

Although Ramos, 41, pleaded guilty in October 2019 to 23 counts related to the shooting, he pleaded not criminally responsible for the deaths due to mental illness. In Maryland, the burden of proof of mental illness is on the defense. The jury was tasked with deciding whether Ramos would serve his sentence in prison or a maximum-security psychiatric hospital.

Prosecutors have sought five life sentences without the possibility of parole.