ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The man accused of killing five staffers at the Capital Gazette in June of 2018, has plead guilty to all 23 charges.
As part of his plea, a jury will determine whether Ramos Jarrod Ramos is criminally responsible or guilty by reason of insanity.
On Monday, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Laura Ripken accepted the plea, and set jury selection for Wednesday.
Just last week, a forensic psychiatrist for the state health department declared Ramos sane.
The 38-year-old from Laurel, was charged with five counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Wendi Winters , Robert Hiaasen , Gerald Fischman , John McNamara , and Rebecca Ann Smith.
Ramos was also charged with attempted first-degree murder of Paul W. Gillespie, a photographer at the paper who escaped .
He also faced six additional counts of first-degree assault of Gillespie and other staffers including, Selene San-Felice, Phillip Davis, Janel Cooley, Anthony Messenger, and Rachael Pacella.
Prosecutors also added 11 counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence against each of the victims.
Previously, Ramos had plead not guilty and then changed his defense to insanity.
Prosecutors had argued that Ramos planned the attack, and had a past with the newspaper, including old harassment charges.
The state entered 71 pieces of evidence to support the guilty plea, including witnesses, video surveillance, DNA, weapons, officer's body-worn camera footage, and tapes of the 911 call made by Ramos.
Family of Capital Gazette staffers and survivors became emotional as they listened to the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney reading the statement of facts, which detailed how Wendi Winters grabbed a trash/recycling bin and charged at the shooter, and how staffers tried escaping but were barricaded inside.
To read more on Jarrod Ramos, and the Capital Gazette rampage, click here.
