Parents of boy killed in Boston Marathon bombing want death penalty ‘off the table’ for Tsarnaev

The parents of a young boy killed during the Boston Marathon bombing are asking the Department of Justice to take the death penalty “off the table” for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in exchange for him spending the rest of his life in prison.

Bill Richards and Denise Richards said in an open letter to the Department of Justice they want to move on with their lives as best they can after Mr. Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, killed their then 8-year-old son, Martin, with one of two pressure-cooker bombs that exploded near the finish line in April 2013. The shrapnel from those bombs also maimed Jane, their 7-year-old daughter, who was left with just one leg. The letter was published by The Boston Globe.

“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 couple said in their letter. “We hope our two remaining children do not have to grow up with the lingering, painful reminder of what the defendant took from them, which years of appeals would undoubtedly bring.”

Early this month, a jury convicted Mr. Tsarnaev of 30 various charges connected to the Boston Marathon terror attack. Of those 30 charges, 17 of them carry the death penalty.