Emmanuel Aranda, 24, pled guilty Tuesday to attempted premeditated first-degree murder in April 12 attack on Landen Hoffman in Bloomington Minnesota
Aranda, 24,  faces 19 years in prison after telling police he went there ‘looking for someone to kill’ when he threw five-year-old Hoffman from a third floor balcony at Mall of America, on Apr 12 
Hoffman suffered head trauma and broken bones in the fall, but survived – His family said he is alert
Aranda told police he was angry at being rejected by women at the mall and was ‘looking for someone to kill’ when he went there 
His mother told reporters her son suffers from mental health problems and does not belong in prison 
Becky Aranda said in an interview that a few days before attack, Emmanuel showed up at his sister’s home looking ‘like a zombie’ and punched her   
Aranda allegedly said he ‘planned to kill an adult, because they usually stand near the balcony, but he chose the victim instead’ the assailant allegedly told police after he tried killing five-year-old Landen Hoffman [photo] on Apr 12
Emergency personnel are seen tending to Landen Hoffman after the five-year-old boy was thrown down off the balcony by Arande. He landed 40 feet below, on the stone floor at Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minnesota last month
Police arrested Aranda moments after the attack as he waited to board a light-rail train at the mall, and said he had quickly admitted to the attack.

A criminal complaint filed soon after the attack said Aranda told police he was angry at being rejected by women at the mall and was ‘looking for someone to kill’ when he went there.
Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, 24, threw a 5-year-old from the 3rd floor balcony of the Mall of America located in Blooming-ton, Minnesota. He then took off running after throwing the child from the balcony.
Taken into custody, Aranda allegedly told police he ‘planned to kill an adult, because they usually stand near the balcony, but he chose the victim instead.’
He had two past convictions for assaults at the mall, both in 2015, and had been banned from the property at one point.

Court records showed that Aranda had been ordered to undergo psychological evaluation or treatment after those assaults, and his attorney Paul Sellers said Aranda had been in mental health court.
Aranda, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, spoke quietly during Tuesday’s hearing while giving yes-or-no answers to questions aimed at making sure he understood what he was admitting.
When asked if he knew that throwing the boy over the balcony could have killed him, the defendant replied, ‘Yes.’
Following the brief hearing, Aranda’s mother, Becky, told reporters her son does not belong in prison because he has been battling mental health problems since childhood and requires treatment, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, reports.
The criminal complaint stated that Aranda,[photo], told police he was angry at being rejected by women at the mall and was ‘looking for someone to kill’ when he went there

His mother said her son has mental health issues and does not belong in prison.
She also said the family were ‘really shocked’ by the random attack on the boy.
‘We had no idea that his illness would drive him to doing this,’ Becky Aranda said of her son.
In a recent interview with Minnesota Public Radio, the defendant’s mother revealed that a few nights before the April 12 incident, Emmanuel showed up at his sister’s home, punched her in the face and left.
‘She said he just was like a zombie,’ the mom recounted. ‘She looked into his eyes, it’s like he didn’t have any soul… it was like another force that had taken over.’
Records show that Aranda’s anger issues date back to when he was living in Chicago. Aranda had an outburst at a restaurant in 2014, where he smashed a dinner plate over a customer’s head.


He then grabbed a knife and proceeded to threaten other customers and chase them through the restaurant. A server there, who still fears Aranda, described the terror.
“People were literally putting children under tables because he was saying, ‘I’m going to stab somebody and kill somebody,’” the server said.
The behavior continued when Aranda moved to Minneapolis to be with his sister. He was banned for a time from Mall of America for threatening patrons. He also was cited for smashing computers at a Minneapolis public library.
Hoffman, the victim of his latest outburst, plunged almost 40 feet and suffered head trauma and multiple broken bones.
His family released a statement in late April saying he was alert and no longer in critical condition. On Monday, the family said he continues to heal and requested ‘prayers and privacy.’
A fundraising page has topped $1.022 million to cover the young boy’s medical costs.