2011 murderer of Hasidic boy in Brooklyn dies in prison
Levi Aron was serving 40 years to life for killing 8-year-old Yehuda 'Leiby' Kletzky in Borough Park 14 years ago
A man convicted of kidnapping and murdering an 8-year-old Hasidic boy in New York in 2011 has died in prison.
Levi Aron was serving 40 years to life at the Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo for kidnapping and murdering Yehuda “Leiby” Kletzky, a member of the Hasidic Borough Park community in Brooklyn, 14 years ago.
Aron, 49, had previously been hospitalized for a medical condition and “the death was expected,” according to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). No cause of death was reported.
Kletzky disappeared on July 11, 2011, while walking home alone for the first time from his Borough Park day camp. His parents had practiced the route with him the day before, but the boy missed a turn and wandered off course.
Aron, who was Orthodox, but not Hasidic, found him and lured him into his vehicle, a 1990 Honda Accord. He then brought him to his home, drugged him, and dismembered him.
After Kletzky was reported missing that night, New York Police launched a full-scale manhunt that included helicopters, canine teams, and as many as 5,000 volunteers from the Orthodox Jewish community and other local groups.
Surveillance videos from the point of abduction eventually led police to Aron’s apartment in Kensington, where they found parts of Kletzky’s body in a freezer. Aron later directed police to a dumpster in Greenwood Heights, where the rest of the remains were found in a suitcase.
Aron, described by acquaintances as quiet and socially awkward, had no previous criminal convictions. He pleaded guilty in August 2012 to second-degree murder and kidnapping under a plea deal that spared him a trial.
Leiby’s funeral in Borough Park was attended by thousands of people, many of whom traveled from around the Tri-State area to attend. Following his murder, the state of New York installed 100 security cameras on public lampposts throughout the Borough Park neighborhood in what was known as the Leiby Kletzky Security Initiative.