Tsarnaev sentenced to death for Boston bombings

After 14 hours of deliberations, a jury sentenced convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death.

Tsarnaev, 21, did not flinch or show emotion as the verdict was read. Several jurors became emotional as the judge thanked them for their service.

During the first phase of the trial, Tsarnaev’s lawyers admitted he assisted his brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in planning and carrying out the bombing, which killed three people and injured more than 260 more. The defense argued that though Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was 19 at the time, planted one of the two pressure-cooker bombs, he was just going along with his older brother, who masterminded the April 15, 2013, attack. The elder Tsarnaev died in a confrontation with police a few days later. On April 8, a week shy of the two-year anniversary, the jury found the younger Tsarnaev guilty on all counts, after deliberating for 11 hours.

The defense characterized Tsarnaev as an impressionable teenager during the penalty phase of the trial, arguing showed poor judgment but was not the evil villain his brother was. The prosecution maintained the brothers had equal roles in plotting the attack. They presented emotional testimony from victims who described seeing their own legs blown off and watching people die.

The defense found unlikely allies in the family of the youngest person killed in the bombing. Bill and Denise Richards, whose 8-year-old son Martin died in the attack, encouraged prosecutors to offer Tsarnaev life in prison if he waived his right to further appeal his conviction.

“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 reliving the most painful day of our lives,” the family wrote in an editorial in the Boston Globe. Prosecutor Carmen Ortiz responded to the parents’ statement, telling the Globe she would consider the views of all victims.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.