Levi Aron Sentenced to 40 Years to Life in Prison

Levi Aron, a Kensington resident who on to the kidnap and murder of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky, was sentenced Wednesday to a minimum of 40 years and a maximum of life in prison by Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes.

Aron admitted to kidnapping Kletzy on July 11 of last year, taking him to a family wedding upstate before bringing him back to Kensington to spend the night in his apartment, continuing to hold him throughout the following day. 

Panicked by the community's increasingly desperate search for Kletzy, Aron returned home on July 12 from his job at a Borough Park hardware store, fed the boy a cocktail of painkillers and smothered him to death.

He then cut up Kletzy's remains, putting some in his freezer and others in a Sunset Park dumpster two miles away. 

Authorities were led to Aron with the help of video surveillance shortly after the murder. Aron himself showed police to the dumpster where the remainder of Kletzy's body was stowed.

“No one should ever forget what happened to Leiby Kletzky but we can all take solace that Levi Aron will never, ever be able to hurt anyone again," said the DA after Aron pleaded guilty.