Parents of young bombing victim: Take death penalty off the table

Associated Press

BOSTON

The parents of the youngest victim of the Boston Marathon bombing are urging federal authorities to consider taking the death penalty off the table for the man convicted in the case.

Bill and Denise Richard, whose 8-year-old son, Martin, was one of three people killed by the April 2013 explosions at the marathon’s finish line, say in a front-page piece in Friday’s Boston Globe that sentencing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death “could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives.”

“We are in favor of and would support the Department of Justice in taking the death penalty off the table in exchange for the defendant spending the rest of his life in prison without any possibility of release and waiving all of his rights to appeal,” they wrote.

The Richards’ daughter, Jane, lost a leg in one of the explosions, and they both suffered injuries.

They wrote that when Tsarnaev fades from the media spotlight and public view they can start “rebuilding our lives and family.”

The Richards never mention Tsarnaev by name, simply calling him “the defendant,” and stressed that they are speaking only for themselves.

U.S. Attorney for Boston Carmen Ortiz says she is aware of the Richards’ view but cannot comment on the specifics.