Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
A US jury has sentenced Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death by lethal injection.
Three people were killed and 260 were injured when Tsarnaev, now 21, and his brother placed bombs at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon in 2013.
Tsarnaev is likely to be moved to a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, to await execution, but there could be years of appeals.
Victims sobbed as the sentence was read, but Tsarnaev showed no emotion.
“Now he will go away and we will be able to move on. Justice. In his own words, ‘an eye for an eye’,” said bombing victim Sydney Corcoran, who nearly bled to death and whose mother lost both legs.
After 14 hours of deliberations, the jury concluded that he showed no remorse and therefore should be put to death.
“The jury has spoken. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will pay for his crimes with his life,” said US Attorney Carmen Ortiz.
Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were captured in photos on the day of the bombing
Three were killed and over 260 injured when two bombs detonated
Tsarnaev was found guilty last month of helping carry out the attack, as well as fatally shooting a policeman.
As a state, Massachusetts ended the death penalty in 1984, but Tsarnaev was tried on federal charges, meaning he was eligible for execution.
After the sentence was announced, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said: “The ultimate penalty is a fitting punishment for this horrific crime and we hope that the completion of this prosecution will bring some measure of closure to the victims and their families.”
But not all of the victims supported the death penalty for Tsarnaev.
The parents of Martin Richard, an eight-year-old boy killed in the blast, wrote an article in the Boston Globe newspaper last month asking the government to not seek a death sentence as it would delay their emotional closure.
BBC