FACE OF COURAGE: Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leaves a Tucson, Ariz., court yesterday with husband Mark Kelly after mass killer Jared Lee Loughner’s sentencing. (
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Gabrielle Giffords — partially blind, her right arm paralyzed, her courage on display — came face to face again with Jared Lee Loughner, this time in a Tucson, Ariz., courtroom, as the unrepentant mass murderer was given seven life sentences.
The former Arizona congresswoman stood by her husband, Mark Kelly, at a court podium as he told Loughner that his shooting rampage had failed.
“You may have put a bullet through her head,” Kelly said in a ringing voice as his wife stared at Loughner, “but you haven’t put a dent in her commitment to make the world a better place.”
Giffords did not speak, but her appearance with Kelly, a former astronaut, was an emotional high point as a parade of Loughner’s victims described the pain he had caused.
“You have decades upon decades to contemplate, what you did,” Kelly concluded, “but from this moment, Gabby and I are done thinking about you.”
Then Giffords kissed him, they embraced and she limped as they walked back to their seats to hear the final act in the blood-stained drama that began outside a Tucson supermarket in January 2011.
Giffords was among the survivors who endorsed the plea bargain that gave Loughner, 24, seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years in federal prison for the rampage that killed six people and wounded 13 others.
Loughner showed no emotion as his victims spoke or when federal Judge Larry Burns imposed the sentence.
“He will never have an opportunity to pick up a gun and do this again,” Burns said.
Loughner, his head no longer shaven, said nothing during the two-hour hearing. His parents sat nearby, his mom sobbing.
The college dropout with a history of psychiatric disorders pleaded guilty in August after being ruled competent to stand trial.
Another gunshot survivor, Susan Hileman, was visibly shaking at times as she stared at Loughner and spoke before sentencing.
“We’ve been told about your demons, about the illness that skewed your thinking,” she said. “Your parents, your schools, your community, they all failed you.
“It’s all true,” Hileman said. “It’s not enough.”
“You pointed a weapon and shot me three times,” she said. “And now I will walk out of this courtroom and into the rest of my life and I won’t think of you again.”
The case against Loughner might not be over. Pima County prosecutors said they had not decided whether to file state charges against him and seek the death penalty.
It’s not known where Loughner will serve his sentence. He could end up at the federal lockup in Florence, Colo. — rubbing noses with some of the country’s most notorious criminals, including Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski.