CHICAGO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The second of five U.S. soldiers charged with raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her and her family has agreed to plead guilty, and will avoid the death penalty, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Sgt. Paul Cortez, 24, of Barstow, California, will plead guilty to "some but not all of the charges" of rape and murder brought by the U.S. military, his attorney, William Cassara, told Reuters.

"He's going to take responsibility for what happened," Cassara said. As part of the plea bargain, Cortez will no longer face the death penalty and he may testify against the others, he added.

Cortez has a Feb. 20 hearing scheduled at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, home of the 101st Airborne Division.

Spc. James Barker, 24, pleaded guilty to rape and murder charges in the same case in November and was given a 90-year sentence in a military prison.

Barker agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He could testify against Pvt. Jesse Spielman, Pvt. Bryan Howard, and the suspected ringleader, Steven Green, who was discharged from the Army for a "personality disorder." Green has been indicted by a civilian grand jury and faces trial in U.S. District Court.

Prosecutors have charged the five with planning the March 12, 2006, attack on the family in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad. They are accused of gang-raping and killing the girl, then killing her father, mother and 6-year-old sister. Green is accused of trying to burn the bodies to conceal the crime.

The Mahmudiya case was one of several killings and abuses involving U.S. soldiers that have outraged Iraqis. It prompted Iraqi officials to call for a review of foreign troops' immunity from prosecution in Iraq.

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