The penalty phase will begin Tuesday for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The Associated Press noted that the jury will hear arguments as to whether or not Tsarnaev should be given the death penalty. The defense lawyers are expected to argue again that the 21-year-old, who was 19 at the time of the bombing, was heavily influenced by his older brother. Prosecutors will counter those claims and argue that Tsarnaev was an equal participant in planning and carrying out the deadly attack.
On April 15, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the Boston Marathon finish line killing three people and injuring more than 260 others. Tsarnaev was caught on camera placing a backpack on the ground before the bombs detonated. He was found guilty of all 30 counts against him two weeks ago.
Since the verdict, however, several of the bombing victims and their families have spoken out against the death penalty.
The parents of 8-year-old Martin Richard, who was killed that horrific day, asked that the bomber’s life be spared as did Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, who each lost limbs in the attack. Kensky said that she and Downes would like to move on and the sentence of life without the possibility of parole would bring a much quicker ending to the awful chapter of their lives.