The jury reached a sentencing verdict for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Friday afternoon on whether he should be sentenced to life in prison without parole or to death.
After roughly 14 hours of deliberation, the 12-person jury has sentenced Tsarnaev to death. The verdict came on the second full day of deliberations.
Tsarnaev was convicted last month of all 30 charges he faced in the Boston Marathon bombing trial, with 17 of those charges carrying the possibility of the death penalty. All 12 members of the jury had to unanimously agree on the death penalty for at least one of the 17 charges.
Jurors weighed a number of aggravating and mitigating factors when reaching their decision. The prosecution called for a death sentence during closing arguments, citing the “cruel and depraved nature of the crimes,” while the defense argued for a life without parole, saying he was influenced by his radicalized older brother.
The jury delivered the verdict, but the formal sentencing will be done by Judge George O’Toole.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@NBCLA
