US News

Man who tossed 5-year-old from Mall of America balcony gets 19 years

The heartless Minnesota man who lobbed a 5-year-old from a third-story Mall of America balcony because he was upset over women rejecting him will spend 19 years in prison for the heinous act, a judge ruled Monday.

Emmanuel Aranda, 24, pleaded guilty to attempted murder in May following the April 12 attack, in which he threw young Landen Hoffmann 40 feet from a balcony.

Aranda showed little emotion as Hennepin County District Judge Jeannice Reding handed down the sentence. When asked if he wanted to say anything, he simply responded, “No.”

“Your act was evil and selfish, you chose to listen to the worst parts of yourself that day,” the boy’s father said in a statement read by prosecutors ahead of the sentencing.

“You chose evil over good and chose to take your hate and hurt out on my precious boy. That is where your impact on us stops, you will take nothing more from us.”

Hoffmann survived the ordeal, but required multiple surgeries for head trauma and broken bones. No update was given on his condition.

Aranda previously told authorities he was incensed after years of women rejecting his advances and he was “looking for someone to kill.”

With Post wires