The parents of the youngest victim of the Boston Marathon bombing are urging federal authorities to take the death penalty off the table for the man convicted in the case.
Bill and Denise Richard's eight-year-old son Martin was one of three people killed by the April 2013 explosions at the marathon's finish line.
The Richards' daughter, Jane, lost a leg in one of the explosions and they both suffered injuries.
The couple say in a front-page piece in Friday's Boston Globe that sentencing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death "could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives".
"We are in favour of and would support the Department of Justice in taking the death penalty off the table in exchange for the defendant spending the rest of his life in prison without any possibility of release and waiving all of his rights to appeal," they wrote.
"We understand all too well the heinousness and brutality of the crimes committed. We were there. We lived it. The defendant murdered our eight-year-old son, maimed our seven-year-old daughter, and stole part of our soul.
"We know that the government has its reasons for seeking the death penalty, but the continued pursuit of that punishment could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives," they said.
They wrote that when Tsarnaev fades from the media spotlight and public view they can start "rebuilding our lives and family."
Jennifer Lemmerman, the sister of police officer Sean Collier who was killed by Tsarnaev and his older brother days after the explosions, has also spoken out against the death penalty on her Facebook page.
Relatives of other victims have expressed support of the death penalty.
The sentencing phase of Tsarnaev's trial starts on Tuesday.
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