Family Of Minnesota Boy Thrown From 3rd Floor Balcony Suing MOA
We all remember the tragic events at the Mall of America back in 2019 when a stranger picked up and tossed a 5-year-old boy off the 3rd-floor balcony. Emmanuel Aranda was arrested and pleaded guilty to attempted 1st-degree murder and is serving a 19-year prison sentence. Aranda told investigators his intention when he went to the mall that day, was to kill someone.
According to WCCO, Tuesday the family of the boy, Landen, has filed a lawsuit against the Mall of America in Hennepin County. The suit states Landen “suffered extensively and, in some cases permanent, injuries to his brain, face, arms, legs, and internal organs when he struck the floor of the Mall,”
The suit claims that the Mall of America Security Department was negligent in its duty to protect mall patrons. Evidently, Aranda "was well-known to the Mall, and to the Mall of America Security Department … as a violent and aggressive man with an explosive temperament who had been banned from the Mall twice before for assaulting Mall patrons, making terroristic threats, being combative, and criminally damaging property."
Also according to the lawsuit, Aranda had other previous run-ins with the Mall of America Security Department. He was actually banned from the mall back in 2015 after throwing things off the mall balcony and other activities that caused the police to be called.
“The assailant never should have been allowed in the Mall that day; if allowed to enter, he should have been followed by security. But the Mall failed to take either of these simple, necessary precautions, thereby breaching its duty to provide a safe environment to its guests.”
Not clear how much the family is seeking in this lawsuit but they say Landen's medical bills since the incident has exceeded $1.75 million and I'm sure that there will be medical expenses for some time to come. So that along with pain and suffering, future loss of income, mental anguish, and distress, this could add up to a pretty hefty payout from the Mall of America.