Emmanuel Aranda appeared in court Tuesday morning on (Picture: Bloomington Police Department/GoFundMe)

A would-be murderer could serve just 12 years behind bars after he admitted throwing a five year-old boy off a third floor mall balcony.

Emmanuel Aranda was sentenced to 19 years jail Tuesday, shortly after he admitted the attempted premeditated first-degree murder of Landen Hoffman at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, in a random attack on April 12.

But a plea deal struck by Aranda at Hennepin County Court means he will benefit from Minnesota state rules which means he will be out of jail in under 12 years, according to local news reporter Lou Raguse.

Aranda’s guilty plea came as a surprise, with his mother Becky telling courthouse reporters that her son did not belong in jail because he was mentally ill.




He has been receiving mental health treatment, according to WCCO Radio.

Emmanuel Aranda was sentenced to 19 years jail, but Minnesota state rules mean he is likely to be out in 12 years or less (Picture: KTSP)

Aranda had reportedly been banned from the Mall of America and was charged with multiple assaults prior to the attack on Hoffman (Picture: AFP)

Aranda’s attorney Paul Sellers insisted afterwards that the child abuser was competent, and that he had taken the decision to accept the plea deal himself.

The 24-year-old was arrested shortly after he picked up Landen and threw him from the balcony while the youngster’s horrified mother watched on April 12.

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He was found by police on a train after he fled the mall and was charged with attempted premeditated first-degree murder. Miraculously, Landen has since regained consciousness, and is set to make a full recovery from the horrific ordeal.

Police said Aranda told investigators that he hurled the boy off the third floor balcony after he became enraged, telling police that women had been rejecting his advances at the mall for years.

Hoffman hit the floor with a sickening thud, witnesses said, and bystanders rushed frantically over to him to help the boy, who was laying ‘motionless…in a pool of blood,’ according to the Daily News.

Brian Johnson, a bystander at the mall, told WCCO: ‘She was screaming “Everyone pray, everyone pray. Oh my God, my baby, someone threw him over the edge…She was screaming like a banshee, like there’s no tomorrow. I just don’t know. Everyone was in shock.’

It was later revealed that Aranda had been charged with multiple assaults in the past and was banned from the mall. His family told KSTP that he had violent tendencies since childhood and dealt with mental health issues.

Bystanders rushed to help Hoffman who was reportedly unresponsive on the floor of the mall (Picture: CBS)

Weeks after the cruel attack, Hoffman began to show miraculous signs of recovery and woke from the unconscious state he was in.

Hoffman’s family has remained quiet and has requested privacy, but their pastor, Mac Hammond, said the boy had ‘Zero evidence of brain damage…there wasn’t even swelling of the brain.’

Hammond continued: ‘(There is) no spinal chord injury, no nerve damage, no internal injuries that were life threatening.’

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The boy did break multiple bones in the attack, Hammond said.

In the wake of the horrid attack a GoFundMe campaign was launched to help pay for Landen’s medical expenses.



It recently surpassed its $1 million goal and an update on the page said the Landen is expected to return home by June after additional surgeries and rehabilitation.

On Monday, the family again asked for privacy as Aranda’s trial began, writing: ‘As hearings begin this week, the family would like to inform media that they will not be providing commentary on any court proceedings. The child continues to heal and the family asks for continued prayers and privacy.’