Giffords moving to Houston rehab center

TUCSON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is being moved to a rehabilitation center in Houston, her doctors and husband said Thursday.

The Arizona Democrat, who has been in University Medical Center in Tucson since she was shot Jan. 8, is to be transferred Friday, to TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital's rehab center, Politico reported. Mark Kelly, Giffords' astronaut husband, and her surgeons, Dr. Michael Lemole and Dr. Peter Rhee, said she is showing more signs of cognition.

Kelly called his wife "a fighter like nobody else that I know," and said he is optimistic about her recovery, the Arizona Daily Star reported. He said she smiles at him and pats his face.

Lemole and Rhee described Giffords scrolling through an iPad.

Giffords was shot in the head during a Congress on the Corner event in Tucson. Jared Lee Loughner, 22, of Tucson has been charged with killing six people, including a federal judge, and wounding 13, including the congresswoman.

A federal grand jury in Tucson returned a three-count indictment Wednesday that charged Loughner with trying to kill Giffords and two of her aides.