Man who kidnapped, killed Borough Park boy in 2011 dies

The man convicted of killing an 8-year-old boy from Borough Park in 2011 died while serving 40 years to life in prison on Dec. 3.

Levi Aron, 49, was in a hospital near Wende Correctional Facility, where he was serving his sentence, when he was pronounced dead, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) confirmed.

The cause of death was unknown, but a DOCCS spokesperson said Aron had been in the hospital since Aug. 26 for a medical condition.

In July 2011, he abducted Leiby Kletzky, who was walking to his Borough Park home from day camp.

Aron, who was a hardware store clerk, was convicted the following year for the kidnapping, killing and dismembering of the boy.

His body’s remains were found in a Greenwood Heights dumpster and in a freezer inside Aron’s Kensington home.

Following his arrest, he wrote a handwritten confession.

“That is when approximately I went for a towel to smother him — in the side room,” he recalled. “He fought back a little bit until eventually he stopped breathing. Afterwards I panicked because I didn’t know what to do with the body.”

He later pleaded guilty to one charge of second-degree murder and one charge of second-degree kidnapping.

Aron’s brother, Tzvi Aron, 29, was found dead in the basement of the same home where Kletzky’s remains were found in 2017. Police said they found his body bound, wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a closet

However, a medical examiner couldn’t determine the cause of his death, and the investigation was concluded.