Levi Aron will face 40 years to life in prison after admitting Thursday to the horrific killing of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky.
Aron, 36, who entered Brooklyn Supreme Court wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and kidnapping charges.
The plea deal came after his lawyers determined that, although he was by no means in perfect mental health, an insanity defense would not be viable.
“He’s very remorseful in his own way,” Aron’s attorney Jennifer McCann said in court.
The parents of Kletzky, whose dismembered body parts were found last summer in a Borough Park dumpster, did not appear in the courtroom.
They released a statement through Assemblyman Dov Hikind, saying they requested a quick resolution to the case so as not to have to relive the crime at trial.
“There is no way one can comprehend or understand the pain of losing a child,” the parents said.
Aron confirms details of crime
In a barely audible whisper, Aron confirmed to the judge that he snatched Leiby Kletzky off the street last July 11 at the corner of 18th Avenue and Dahill Road in Borough Park. Aron then admitted to keeping Leiby at his apartment overnight, to panicking after seeing fliers about the missing boy, to tying Leiby up and smothering him with a towel, to chopping up the body and disposing of the suitcase.
