A Minneapolis boy thrown from the third story of a mall earlier this year has made a miraculous recovery, according to his family.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, bystanders watched in horror on April 12 as 24-year-old Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda threw 5-year-old child Landen Hoffman over the ledge of the Mall of America’s third floor in Bloomington, sending the little boy falling close to 40 feet before crashing onto a marble floor.
Police said the suspect had no connection to the boy or his family.
First responders rushed Landen to the Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis with “significant injuries.” The boy had two broken arms, skull and face fractures and a broken leg.
According to the family’s GoFundMe page, Landen endured 15 separate surgeries, but he’s now healing at home and walking “perfectly.” He also started school this year and attends a kindergarten class.
“He gets out of the car every morning happy and blows kisses all the way in! He’s a strong, happy boy,” a GoFundMe post read.
“When his mommy asks him if she can look at his wound or asks how he’s doing, he always responds with ‘Mom, I’m healed, you don’t need to ask me anymore.’ Landen loves life and Jesus!”
Landen also has fond memories of “all of the people who loved him and cared for him at the hospital” and the well-wishers who sent him gifts and cards.
Meanwhile, a judge sentenced Aranda to 19 years in prison in July, for first-degree attempted murder after the man admitted he threw the boy from the ledge, according to FOX 29. Aranda reportedly admitted that he had a goal of killing someone at the mall when the incident happened.
Aranda said he initially wanted to kill a random adult but chose the boy instead when he saw him standing near the ledge with his mother.
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[Feature Photo: Wiki Commons]
