LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- A murder trial has come to abrupt and unexpected end for a man accused of killing three adults and a girl during a bloody rampage at a suburban Atlanta home in 2009.
The Gwinnett Daily Post reports that defendant Richard Ringold accepted a plea bargain Tuesday, moments before a 7-year-old girl who survived a shooting was scheduled to testify against him.
Under terms of the plea deal, Ringold pleaded guilty to every crime in a 10-count indictment, allowing him to avoid the death penalty but spend life in prison. It brought a close to Gwinnett County's first death penalty trial since 2005.
Ringold had earlier pleaded not guilty, claiming that he was playing video games with friends at the time of the August 2009 killings.
Associated Press