Krystle Marie Campbell

Krystle Marie Campbell's death from the first Boston Marathon bomb was addressed through eyewitness testimony, autopsy evidence, and the jury's death-result findings. Her friend Karen McWatters, known at the time as Karen Rand, testified that they were near the finish line to watch McWatters's boyfriend run. McWatters described moving close to Campbell after the explosion, holding her hand, and hearing her say that her legs hurt before her hand went limp and she stopped speaking. Officer Frank Chiola testified that he performed chest compressions on Campbell and later saw her deceased in the medical tent.

Medical examiner Jennifer Hammers classified Campbell's death as homicide caused by blast injuries to her torso and lower extremities, explaining that damaged blood vessels caused fatal blood loss. The court admitted autopsy photographs and recovered material. After the defense challenged notice and the foundation for a survival-time opinion, the court allowed Hammers to estimate survival from seconds to approximately a minute; the defense asked no questions. The jury subsequently made findings that the first-bomb offenses and charged conspiracies resulted in Campbell's death. During the penalty phase, the prosecution previewed evidence about her life and continuing family loss, and the court's instructions included harm to Campbell and her family and friends among the alleged aggravating factors.