Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may get the death penalty. The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings will face the ultimate penalty if he is convicted for the crime.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Thursday that Tsarnaev will face death for the terrorist attack on U.S. soil. The decision comes nine months after Tsarnaev and his brother , 26-year-old Tamerlan, created twin bombs that went off near the finale of the Boston Marathon. Three were killed and more than 260 other were injured in that incident. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed by police during a confrontation a few days after the attack, USA Today reports.
"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 according to USA Today. "The nature of the conduct at issue and the resultant harm compel this decision."
There is no set trial date yet for the case. Tsarnaev has been charged with 30 criminal counts.
More than 500 federal suspects have been assigned the death penalty since the maximum punishment was made legal again back in 1988. However only three offenders have actually been killed during that time and none of them were in the past decade. The first federal execution in almost 40 years was used on the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. He was given the death penalty with lethal injection in 2001.
There is extremely strong evidence against Tsarnaev, including photos of him placing the explosives at one of the bombing sites. However there has been heavy discussion over whether or not he should get the death penalty.
A Massachusetts jury is set to decide Tsarnaev's fate unless the case is moved. Massachusetts had long been opposed to the death sentence. According to a survey by the Boston Globe, only 33 percent of Boston residents said Tsarnaev should get the death penalty while 57 percent said he should just get life in prison without parole.
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