SAN ANTONIO – Over the next few days, more than 1,000 people will be called into Boston Federal Court to decide the fate of Dhzokhar Tsarnaev, the man who officials say detonated two bombs at the 2013 Boston Marthon.
Dr. Jorge Alvarez, a local heart doctor with the Cardiology Clinic of San Antonio, was at the race to watch his wife compete, but found himself performing lifesaving duties after the bombs exploded along the route.
His wife had already finished the race 30 minutes earlier, and he had volunteered to provide dehydration therapy to the runners when the attack began.
Tsarnaev faces 30 federal charges for detonating two bombs at the finish line, killing three and injuring more than 200 others.
A police officer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology was killed while Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, were on the run during the manhunt that followed.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev later died from injuries officials said he sustained in a gunfight and from being run over by his brother, who was fleeing police.
All these events are still vivid in Alvarez's memory. He said he can't forget the place and time where he realized that he too was in danger while trying to resuscitate a young injured woman.
"I was realizing that I am about to die here and what do I do? I can either help or I can run. I stayed and helped," he said.
As the jury is selected, Alvarez wonders if Dhzokhar Tsarnaev will finally come to terms with what he did.
After a plea deal failed, Tsarnaev, who was 19 at the time of the bombings, later pleaded not guilty. He faces death penalty for the crime if convicted.
"I honestly hope that he ends up having some remorse for what he did as a person. I would hope that as a human being, he would realize that he did something very wrong to other people and many people were hurt and he'd had remorse for it," said Alvarez.
Alvarez said the bombing victims sufferend mental and physical damage and deserve closure and justice. The trial is expected to last three to four months.