BOSTON – The parents of the youngest victim of the Boston Marathon bombing are urging federal authorities to consider taking the death penalty off the table for the man convicted in the case.
Bill and Denise Richard, whose 8-year-old son, Martin, was one of three people killed by the April 2013 explosions at the marathon's finish line, say in a front-page piece in Friday's Boston Globe (http://bit.ly/1cBzoQE ) that sentencing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death "could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives."
They wrote that when Tsarnaev fades from the media spotlight and public view they can start "rebuilding our lives and family."
The Richards never mention Tsarnaev by name and stressed that they are speaking only for themselves.
The penalty phase of Tsarnaev's trial starts Tuesday.
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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com