Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who, with the help of his brother, Tamerlan, bombed the Boston Marathon in April of 2013, has been given the death penalty.
This does not come as a surprise, after the Boston bombing led to the death of four innocent civilians, including a young boy by the name of Martin Richard.
Before being given the death penalty, Tsarnaev had a chance to express his remorse for the decisions he made in perpetrating the Boston bombing.
“You told us just how unbearable it was, this thing I put you through,” Tsarnaev said at the sentencing hearing in Boston. “Now, I am sorry for the lives that I have taken.”
“I ask Allah for his mercy for me and my brother and my family,” Tsarnaev added.
Judge George O’Toole showed no signs of backing down from the heavy sentence that Tsarnaev was expected to be given. He followed the wishes of the jury who convicted Tsarnaev in April and voted for the death penalty last month.
“No one will remember your teachers were fond of you,” the judge said. “What will be remembered is that you murdered and maimed innocent people.”
The families of the four victims were given chances to address Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Each family member expressed their lack of forgiveness for this heinous act.
“The choices that you made are despicable,” said Patricia Campbell, whose daughter, Krystle, was killed at the Boston Marathon.
Karen McWatters, a friend of Campbell’s, looked at Tsarnaev and said: “You will die in prison alone.”
“He chose to do nothing to prevent all of this from happening, and he chose to accompany his brother and participate in this hate,” said Bill Richard , the father of 8-year-old Martin Richard, looking directly at Mr. Tsarnaev. “He chose hate, he chose destruction, he chose death. This is all on him. We chose love, we choose kindness, we choose peace. This is our response to hate. That is what makes us different than him,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
“I will never have a complete family again,” said Jennifer Rogers, the sister of the MIT police officer who was shot to death days later.
The victims following continued to speak in quick succession and with great conviction.
No one involved in the Boston bombing, whether they be a family member or spectator, will ever be the same due to the horrific acts made by the Tsarnaevs.
The Boston bombing injured 260, along with the four deaths. Dzhokhar’s brother, Tamerlan, was killed in shootout with police just days later.
[Image Source: Boston Globe ]
