Emmanuel Aranda, Convicted Of Throwing Boy Over MOA Balcony, Files Appeal
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The 24-year-old man who threw a boy over a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in April is appealing his conviction.
On April 12, Emmanuel Aranda said he went to the mall intent on killing someone. According to the criminal complaint, he told investigators that he was angry for the way women at the mall rebuffed his attempt to talk.
Unable to find an adult victim, he chose instead to grab the 5-year-old boy named Landen and throw him over a third floor railing, 40 feet to the concrete floor below. The child suffered numerous broken bones, head trauma and severe bleeding. Paramedics revived the child and rushed him to Children's Hospital.
After four-and-a-half months of medical care, the boy returned home in early September.
Aranda later pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and was sentenced to 19 years in prison in June.
On Friday, Aranda formally appealed the judgement of the Hennepin County court.
Aranda's mother Becky said her son has fought mental illness since he was three years old and had hoped for a continuance to allow more time for the court to access medical records.
Prosecutors say Aranda understood his act was both deliberate and wrong.