Hoosier soldier reaches plea deal in Taliban murder case

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The fate of an Indiana soldier accused of murdering a Taliban commander in U.S. custody has been decided in a plea deal with the U.S. Army.

Army Pfc. David Lawrence of Lawrenceburg, Indiana will be sentenced to 12 ½ years with a minimum of ten years at Leavenworth. He could be eligible for parole in four years. The deal was just reached with the judge at Fort Carson, Colorado this afternoon.

I-Team 8 launched an investigation into case after Lawrence was diagnosed with PTSD and schizophrenia while deployed in Afghanistan.

As part of the plea deal, he pleads guilty to killing a Taliban prisoner last year in Afghanistan.

Lawrence requested help from military psychologists after seven of his fellow soldiers were killed, including a chaplain he had become close to. The Army's own military psychiatrists concluded he was schizophrenic and suffered post traumatic stress disorder at the time.

"It may be the first time in the history of the U.S. Army that in a murder case the army’s own experts have ruled the accused was not criminally responsible,” his attorney, James Culp, told 24-Hour News 8 anchor Karen Hensel in February.

This deal brings a "substantially" reduced sentence for the killing. The deal will spare Lawrence from a minimum life sentence without parole. The deal also will spare the U.S. Army from controversy over locking up the 20-year old for life after their own doctors diagnosed him with PTSD.