Federal prosecutors to seek death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is allowing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man arrested for his alleged role in the Boston Marathon bombings in April. The bombings killed three people and left over 260 others injured.

Prosecutors notified US District Court George A. O’Toole Jr. in Boston today, notes Boston.com. The judge had given them until Friday to decide.

“After consideration of the relevant facts, the applicable regulations and the submissions made by the defendant’s counsel, I have determined that the United States will seek the death penalty in this matter,” Holder said in a statement. “The nature of the conduct at issue and the resultant harm compel this decision.”

Boston US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz added that he supports Holder’s decision.

The New York Times notes that the decision is not final, though, as half of federal death penalty cases usually have the death penalty dropped before a trial starts. That’s usually because the defendant might make a plea deal.

The 20-year-old Tsarnaev will face 30 federal charges related to the attacks, which were allegedly carried out with his older brother. Krystle Campbell, 29, Lingzi Lu, 23, and Martin Richard, 8 were killed during the attack. He also faces charges for the shooting death of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, which happened just before the brothers tried to leave Boston.

His brother was killed in a police shootout, but Tsarnaev escaped initially. After the city of Boston was under lockdown for a day, he was found hiding in a boat, injured.

Massachusetts no longer has the death penalty on the books and the federal government has only executed three people since the penalty was reinstated in 1988.

image: FBI.gov

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