The father of the youngest victim of the Boston Marathon bombings gave testimony Thursday in the trial of accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Bill Richard was the final witness to take the stand and answered questions from prosecutors for at least an hour.
He described how his wife, Denise, and his kids Martin, Henry, and Jane, went to watch the 2013 Boston Marathon. He said it was a family tradition.
Jurors focused on his testimony and his descriptions of what his family went through after the second bomb went off outside Forum Restaurant.
“It was muted chaos I could hear,” Bill Richard said in court. “It smelled like gunpowder, sulphur, burned hair. It smelled vile.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev showed no emotion, while people in court were shaking, crying, and wiping away tears listening to Richard describe the chaos.
He said he was blown off of a barricade and onto Boylston Street, but managed to get back to the carnage on the sidewalk to find his wife leaning over his son, Martin.
Richard’s son Henry was also injured, and he tried to help his daughter, Jane, who lost her leg.
“She tried to get up and she fell. It was then that I noticed her legs, picked them up and tried to shield both of their eyes,” he said.
Prosecutors showed surveillance video and Richard circled pictures of his family members.
“I knew that I needed to get back and help. When I saw Martin’s condition, I knew he wasn’t going to make it,” Richard said. “It was then I saw my son alive, barely, for the last time.”
Several victims who were in the courtroom who had already testified could be seen crying.
During the testimony, Tsarnaev was sitting at the defense table no more than 15 feet away from Richard.