Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Sentenced to Death

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch called the bombing "a cold and callously perpetrated a terrorist attack"

By Alyssa Toomey May 15, 2015 7:50 PMTags
Dzhokhar TsarnaevFBI

A verdict has been reached in the Boston Marathon bombing trial: A jury has voted to execute Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Per NBC News, Tsarnaev will remain in custody and will be formally sentenced by the judge at a later date in the coming months. Those affected by the the April 2013 bombing will be allowed to make impact statements at the forthcoming hearing. Tsarnaev will also be given the opportunity to speak at that time. 

Last month, Tsarnaev was found guilty of carrying out the attack on the 2013 Boston Marathon, which killed three people and injured hundreds of others, but the jury, which consisted of seven women and five men, still had to decide whether to sentence Tsarnaev to death or life in prison. According to the New York Times, the jury took 14 hours to reach their decision. 

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Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch released the statement below following the death penalty sentence:

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev coldly and callously perpetrated a terrorist attack that injured hundreds of Americans and ultimately took the lives of three individuals: Krystle Marie Campbell, a 29-year-old native of Medford; Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old Boston University graduate student from China; and Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy from Dorchester who was watching the marathon with his family just a few feet from the second bomb.  In the aftermath of the attack, Tsarnaev and his brother murdered Sean Collier, a 27-year-old patrol officer on the MIT campus, extinguishing a life dedicated to family and service.  

We know all too well that no verdict can heal the souls of those who lost loved ones, nor the minds and bodies of those who suffered life-changing injuries from this cowardly attack. But the ultimate penalty is a fitting punishment for this horrific crime and we hope that the completion of this prosecution will bring some measure of closure to the victims and their families. We thank the jurors for their service, the people of Boston for their vigilance, resilience and support and the law enforcement community in Boston and throughout the country for their important work.

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NBC News also reports that Tsarnaev said nothing as the verdict was announced and sat stone-faced while a number of jurors cried following the trial's conclusion. 

"I want to thank the jurors and the judiciary for their service to our community and our country," Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in a statement. "I hope this verdict provides a small amount of closure to the survivors, families, and all impacted by the violent and tragic events surrounding the 2013 Boston Marathon. We will forever remember and honor those who lost their lives and were affected by those senseless acts of violence on our City. Today, more than ever, we know that Boston is a City of hope, strength and resilience, that can overcome any challenge."

Tsarnaev's bombing of the Boston Marathon is the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. 

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