New York’s prison system has confirmed that Levi Aron — the man whose name became synonymous with one of the city’s most disturbing crimes — has died while serving a decades-long sentence for killing 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky.
According to the New York Post, state officials said Aron, 49, passed away shortly before 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at a hospital near Wende Correctional Facility in Erie County. He had been transferred there on Aug. 23 for what authorities described only as a “medical condition.”
Aron was serving a sentence of 40 years to life for the 2011 kidnapping and murder that horrified Brooklyn and left the Orthodox Jewish community shaken. The boy vanished while walking home alone for the first time in Borough Park, sparking a massive search that ended in tragedy.
Investigators later revealed Aron had abducted the child just blocks from his home, driven him to a wedding in Rockland County, and only learned of the frantic citywide search when he returned.
In a confession that stunned even veteran prosecutors, Aron admitted he panicked, drugged the boy, smothered him with a towel, and dismembered the body before disposing of the remains.
“I went for a towel to smother him in the side room,” Aron told detectives. “He fought back a little bit, but eventually he stopped breathing. I was still in panic from the fliers and afraid to bring him home.”
The brutality of the crime sent shockwaves through New York and drew national attention. Mourning and outrage swept Borough Park, where volunteers had spent days searching for the missing child.
Leiby’s father, Nachman Kletzky, declined to comment Thursday when contacted about Aron’s death.
Months after the murder, the grieving family filed a civil suit seeking $100 million in punitive damages from Aron and his father, calling the killer’s actions “utterly reckless, malicious, and wanton.”
Correction officials said Aron’s family has requested an autopsy. No additional information about his medical issues has been released.
