MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man who threw a 5-year-old boy from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in Minnesota faces 19 years in prison when he’s sentenced.
Emmanuel Aranda is scheduled to be sentenced Monday before Hennepin County District Judge Jeannice Reding. The 24-year-old Minneapolis man pleaded guilty last month to attempted premeditated first-degree murder in the April 12 attack.
Authorities say he told investigators he went to the mall “looking for someone to kill.” The child plunged almost 40 feet (12 meters). He survived head trauma and broken bones.
Aranda’s plea deal calls for prosecutors to drop an aggravated-circumstances component to the charge that could have meant an additional year in prison.
Authorities have not released the victim’s name and say his family requested privacy.