US soldier pleads guilty in Afghan’s death

Civilian attorney James Culp, left, walks with Pfc. David Lawrence as they take a break from proceedings at a military court hearing at Fort Carson, Colo., on Wednesday, May 25, 2011in Denver. Lawrence has pleaded guilty to premeditated murder for killing a suspected Taliban member who was asleep in a jail cell at a U.S. outpost in Afghanistan. Lawrence entered the plea before Col. Mark Bridges in a military court. The judge didn’t immediately say whether he would accept the plea. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

FORT CARSON, Colorado— A mentally ill U.S. soldier has pleaded guilty to premeditated murder for killing a suspected Taliban member who was asleep in a jail cell at a U.S. outpost in Afghanistan.

Pfc. David Lawrence entered the plea before Col. Mark Bridges on Wednesday in a military court at Fort Carson in Colorado. The judge didn’t immediately say whether he would accept the plea.

Lawrence calmly told the judge he fatally shot the suspected Afghan commander because Lawrence’s chaplain had been killed by insurgents. Lawrence said he was mentally ill at the time but that didn’t prevent him from knowing right from wrong.

Lawrence said he didn’t know if the suspected Taliban member killed the chaplain, but he held him responsible because he believed the detainee was a Taliban commander.

Army doctors concluded in January that Lawrence had schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the shooting.