Man Who Threw Boy From Mall of America Balcony Gets 19 Years in Prison

Emmanuel Aranda, who threw a 5-year-old boy over a Mall of America balcony, listens as Judge Jeannice Reding hands out a 19-year sentence at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on June 3, 2019. Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP

MINNEAPOLIS—A man who threw a 5-year-old boy from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in Minnesota has been sentenced to 19 years in prison on June 3.

Emmanuel Aranda showed little emotion during his hearing. When Hennepin County District Judge Jeannice Reding asked whether Aranda wanted to say anything on his own behalf, the 24-year-old Minneapolis man responded with a simple, “No.” Reding then sentenced him to the term he agreed to when he pleaded guilty last month to attempted premeditated first-degree murder in the April 12 attack.