Boston Bomber Sentenced: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Given Death Penalty For 2013 Marathon Bombing [PHOTO]
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has officially been sentenced to death by lethal injection for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev GUILTY Of All 30 Counts
A federal jury in Massachusetts reached their decision May 15 after spending more than 14 hours deliberating the penalty over a three day period.
Tsarnaev was convicted in April of all 30 charges against him, 17 which carried the possibility of the death penalty.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Penalty Trial Begins
Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were responsible for the bombing at the Marathon's finish line back in 2013, which killed three people and injured an additional 260 people. They were also responsible for the death of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer a few days later, as they attempted to flee the area. Tamerlan was killed during the chase, with Dzhokhar apprehended later in the day.
During the case, Tsarnaev's defense attorneys tried to paint him as the pawn for his more radicalized brother, who only sought to follow his brother's own wishes. Prosecutors however portrayed Tsarnaev as an equal partner who felt no remorse for his role in the attacks, placing a bomb behind children--the same bomb which later killed 8-year-old Martin Richard.
Richard's parents had previously expressed their desire for Tsarnaev to be handed life in prison instead, to prevent the process of appeals.
"We know that the government has its reasons for seeking the death penalty, but the continued pursuit of that punishment could bring years of appeals and prolong relieving the most painful day of our lives," they said.
