Photo: Mark Erickson/Getty Images
A man sentenced to 19 years in prison for theattempted premeditated murder of a 5-year-old boy he threw off a third-floor Mall of America balconyheard Monday from the boy’s parents, who forgave him even as the boy’s father decried his “evil and selfish” act.
The statement from the mother read, in part: “God will judge you someday and I have peace with that. I hand it off to him and you will takenoneof my thoughts EVER again, I am done with you.”
Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda.Bloomington Police Department
His mother, Becky Aranda, told reporters afterward that her son had battled mental illness from the age of 3, according to the outlet.
CBS Minnesota
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Ten days ago, in the latest update on a still-activeGoFundMe pagethat has raised more than $1 million in pledges for the boy’s family, his parents wrote: “Over the past several weeks, our son has suffered from non-life threatening complications from his injuries which have required additional procedures to correct. He is recovering, and his spirit is strong — but there is still a long road ahead.”
The father’s statement to Aranda in court Monday said: “On what was a normal day for us, a day of fun and playing, a day meant for good, you chose to commit a horrific violent act, an act intended … to kill and destroy.”
While saying “I wish you could experience the pain and suffering you inflicted on my boy,” the father added, in part: “I do want you to know that I forgive you, because it is what God calls me to do and holding hate only harms me.”
Aranda’s public defender previously toldKSTPthat Aranda accepted “full responsibility” for his actions.
source: people.com
