Leiby Kletzky’s Alleged Killer Indicted on Murder Charges
The accused killer of Leiby Kletzky was indicted on murder charges, as officials said the 8-year-old Brooklyn boy was drugged before being smothered, authorities said.
A grand jury hit Levi Aron, 35, with an eight-count indictment on Wednesday, including two counts of first-degree murder, said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles (Joe) Hynes.
The indictment came as autopsy results revealed Kletzky was drugged with prescription pills before being murdered.
Traces of muscle relaxants, anti-psychotic medicine, and pain-killers were found in the Boro Park boy’s blood, the city medical examiner said, the New York Daily News reported.
The coroner’s report listed the pills along with suffocation as the cause of death, saying the boy suffered “intoxication by the combined effects of cyclobenzaprine (muscle relaxant) , quetiapine (antipsychotic), hydrocodone (pain medication), and acetaminophen (Tylenol), followed by smothering,” according to The New York Times.
The Times says hydrocodone is better known as the ingredient in Vicodin, while cyclobenzaprine is sold under the brand name Flexeril.
The medical examiner’s report is the first indication that Kletzky was drugged.
Aron allegedly confessed to abducting the Orthodox Jewish boy as he walked home from day camp alone for the first time on July 11.
Aron claimed he smothered the boy with a towel after panicking over the massive search in the neighborhood.
Kletzky’s body parts were found July 13 in Aron’s freezer and a nearby trash bin.
Hundreds of mourners attended a special prayer vigil for the boy in Boro Park Wednesday night.
Earlier Wednesday, Kletzky’s heartbroken parents ended their traditional mourning period with an early morning walk outside their Boro Park home, news reports said.
Nachman Kletzky and his wife, Esther, were surrounded by relatives as they walked outside on 15th Ave., around 6 a.m., the New York Daily News reported.
The walk marked the end of their seven-day shiva period during which they stayed inside their apartment.
“It’s a sign that your escorting the soul to its resting place,” Jack Meyer, of Misaskim, an organization that provides services to grieving families, told the paper.
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