Jared Lee Loughner: 'I Want to Die, Give Me the Injection, Kill Me Now'
Loughner said he heard the radio talking to him, and communicating thoughts.
July 25, 2011 -- As defense attorneys continue to fight against the forced medication of Jared Lee Loughner, accused in the Tucson, Ariz., shooting spree that killed six people and injured 13 others, court papers reveal his emotional state and why he's being forcibly medicated: Prison officials have deemed him a danger to himself.
A federal court Friday denied an emergency motion by Loughner's defense team that Missouri doctors cease forcibly medicating him.
One prison doctor said that on July 8 Loughner reported he was depressed and "expressed regret for the circumstances that led to his arrest. He also reported that the radio was talking to him and inserting thoughts into his mind."
Doctors ordered that Loughner be placed on suicide watch.
While under suicide watch, Loughner "began pacing quickly in circles near his cell door" and was heard "screaming loudly and seen crying for hours at a time," according to court documents. "He was observed rocking back and forth in the showers."
One doctor reported that Loughner was often viewed as "inconsolable, uncooperative and unresponsive" and "also displayed hypersexed behavior." He talked about the "killings" and the possibility of receiving the death penalty and sobbed uncontrollably for 55 minutes. At one point Loughner said, "I want to die. Give me the injection, kill me now."
A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments regarding Loughner's forced medication in August after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday night denied an emergency motion by defense lawyers to keep prison officials from forcibly medicating Loughner with a psychotropic drug.
Loughner, 22, has pleaded not guilty in the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson that killed six and left 13 others wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. Loughner was declared mentally unfit to contribute to his defense by a federal judge and is being held in Springfield, Mo.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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