MINNEAPOLIS _ A 24-year-old Minneapolis man pleaded guilty Tuesday to throwing a 5-year-old boy over a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in Bloomington last month.
Emmanuel Aranda, entered the plea at a hearing in Hennepin County District Court.
Under terms of the plea, Aranda will serve 19 years in prison for attempted first-degree premeditated murder in the April 12 attack on the Woodbury boy.
In court documents, police said Aranda confessed to the act, saying he went to the mall that day "looking for someone to kill."
He said he planned to kill an adult, because they usually stand near the balcony, but he chose the Victim instead," a criminal complaint said.
Surveillance video showed Aranda walking on the third floor and looking over the balcony several times before approaching the boy and his mother, the complaint said.
The boy's mother told police that she and her son were with a friend of hers and her friend's child outside the Rainforest Cafe when Aranda approached them.
She said Aranda came very close to them and then, "without warning, Defendant picked up the Victim and threw him off the third floor balcony," the complaint said.
The boy, named Landen, is hospitalized but is alert and conscious and no longer in critical condition. His family issued a statement two weeks ago saying that its focus was on "additional surgeries, healing, rehabilitation and eventually a return home, which we hope will happen by June."
In another statement late Monday, the family said Landen "continues to heal" and asked for "continued prayers and privacy."
Aranda's mother, Becky Aranda, attended Tuesday's hearing and said her son has had mental health issues since he was "a little boy," and needs treatment, but should not be in jail. But, she said, he refused to see family to challenge the case against him.
"He doesn't need to be in jail," she said. "He's really sick."
Becky Aranda said she and her family were "really shocked" by the attack, adding, "We had no idea that his illness would drive him to doing this."
She said she and her relatives are keeping Landen and his family "in our prayers. Our heart goes out to them."
