Boston Marathon Bomber Trial Update: Prosecution Rests Case After Giving Grim Testimony About Bombing Victims
Prosecutors in the Boston Marathon bombing trial rested their case on Monday after giving a somber description of the painful death that 8-year-old Martin Richard experienced during the 2013 attack.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is currently standing trial for his role in the Boston Marathon attack, which killed three people and injured 264 others on April 15, 2013. Although Tsarnaev, 21, has confessed to the crime, his lawyers argue that he participated in the bombing when he was 19 years old because he was being influenced by his older brother, Tamerlan, 26, who was then killed three days after the bombing.
The suspected terrorist is facing 30 charges and the death penalty, if convicted, reports CNN.
Several jurors in the high profile trial became teary-eyed and visibly upset as they listened to the prosecution's heartbreaking testimony about Martin's death on Monday. Chief Medical Examiner Henry Nields testified that the 70-pound boy's body was blasted with "small nails, tiny pieces of black plastic, round metal pellets, small fragments of wood, segments of black plastic, and metal pieces" after one of two bombs went off during the attack, reports ABC News.
Jurors were also presented with Richard's damaged clothing, his Nike sneakers and a belt that had been used as a tourniquet around his left arm.
According to Nields, Richard's small intestine was eviscerated, part of his liver and pancreas were cut off and he suffered a "near complete transection of the abdominal aorta." He also testified that the little boy "had shredding on his left adrenal gland" and third degree burns on his body.
When asked if the child's death was painful, Dr. Nields replied, "Yes."
The jury also examined autopsy photos.
Boston medical examiner Katherine Lindstrom also testified on Monday about another victim who died in the attack. Lindstrom said that shrapnel from one of the homemade pressure cooker bombs tore through 23-year-old Lingzi Lu's legs. As a result, the Chinese exchange student bled to death within minutes.
"Her injuries were caused by debris hitting her body and going through her body," Lindstrom told the court, according to Reuters. "They would have been very painful."
It is now up to the defense to argue why the accused Chechen-born terrorist should not be put to death.
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