Boston Marathon Bombing Killer Escapes Death Sentence, Survivors React to the Decision

The 2013 Boston Marathon bombing left three people dead and hundreds of injuries. The mastermind, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was arrested and was given a death sentence.

However, on July 31, a federal appeals court overturned the killer's death sentence and it did not sit well with the survivors.

Overturned sentence

A survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing, Adrianne Haslet, wrote her sentiments on the Instagram about the decision of the federal court to overturn the death sentence of Tsarnaev, who was sentenced to death in 2015, and she was vocal about her desire to keep the assailant on the death sentence list.

Haslet, a 40-year-old dancer who lost her leg in the bombing incident, was just one of the 17 civilians who were left without a limb as a result of the bomb going off.

The attack was planned by Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerian Tsarnaev. The bomb was planted near the finish line where the crowd was gathered.

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Tamerian was killed by the authorities in a shootout. Haslet wrote that the death penalty is just and should be used in the Boston Marathon case. Tsarnaev admitted in court that he was guilty of the attack, and Haslet stated that Tsarnaev is a threat to society.

According to Boston 25, a FOX affiliate, Haslet has since become an advocate for amputees. Rebekah Gregory, another survivor, wrote her sentiments on Twitter and called the court's decision "disgusting."

Gregory is a 32-year-old mother who lost a leg after the attack. Gregory wrote that there are people who are sitting on death row for crimes that are far less than what Tsarney did, and she believes that overturning the death sentence of Tsarney is an act of cowardice.

According to Boston 25, Gregory has written a book about what she went through and she also made efforts to overcome the incident. She ran again at the Boston Marathon as an amputee.

Although most survivors wanted Tsarney to still receive the death sentence, there are some survivors who are just glad that he would be locked up for life.

Dic Donohue, a former transit police sergeant who was wounded during the incident, along with his wife Kim Donohue, did not allow the attack to overtake their lives.

Dic Donohue's wife, Kim, posted a picture on Twitter, showing her husband meeting with two other survivors of the attack, Carlos Arredondo, a man who helped save lives after the attack and Jeff Bauman, who lost two limbs.

Reviewing the case

Most of the charges that the assailant was convicted on were upheld by the appeals court, however, on those death-eligible counts, the court ordered a new penalty-phase trial.

This means that Tsarnaev could be sentenced to death again but the government must first decide whether it would pursue capital punishment.

The Justice Department can now either ask the appeals court in Boston to hear the appeal of the Department of Justice could ask the Supreme Court to review Tsarnaev's case.

Three judges issued the decision, they are Rogeriee Thompson, a judge appointed by Obama and the one who wrote the opinion, Juan Torruella, a Reagan appointee who dissented in part and William Kayatta, who is also appointed by Obama.