Parents Of 8-Year-Old Bombing Victim: Don’t Execute Our Son’s Killer

Convicted Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is getting support from an unexpected source: the parents of the Boston Marathon attack's youngest victim, 8-year-old Martin Richard. Bill and Denise Richard published their plea on the front page of Friday's Boston Globe, where they beg prosecutors to seek life without the possibility of parole, and to spare them and the families of other victims years of pain as appeals move through the courts. "Now that the tireless and committed prosecution team has ensured that justice will be served, we urge the Department of Justice to bring the case to a close," they wrote. “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 Richard family isn't the first touched by the Boston tragedy to ask that Tsarnaev be spared; according to Yahoo News, the sister of an MIT campus patrol officer killed by Tsarnaev and his brother after the bombing said that the death penalty would not give her any "peace or justice." Whether a jury listens to the wishes of Martin's parents remains to be seen. Lawyers are scheduled to begin making their sentencing arguments next week, days after this year's Boston Marathon. Tsarnaev was convicted on April 8 of 30 criminal counts related to the April 15, 2013 bombing, 17 of which carry a potential death sentence. On that day in 2013, three people died and more than 200 were injured in the attack on the Boston Marathon. The Richards' young daughter, Jane, was also seriously injured.