NEW YORK (JTA) – A grand jury in New York indicted Levi Aron for the murder of 8-year old Leiby Kletzky.
The eight-count indictment handed down Wednesday afternoon includes two counts of first-degree murder. It came hours after New York’s medical examiner said that Leiby was given a combination of drugs before he was smothered and killed.
Leiby, the young Orthodox Jewish boy who went missing last week in Brooklyn before he was found murdered two days later following a frantic search, was given cyclobenzaprine, a muscle relaxant; quetiapine, an antipsychotic; and the pain medications hydrocodone and acetaminophen by his alleged killer, Levi Aron, according to reports published Wednesday citing the coroner’s report, before he was smothered with a bath towel. His death has been ruled a homicide.
Parts of Leiby’s dismembered body were found in Aron’s freezer. In a confession to police, Aron said that he killed Leiby when he saw fliers for the missing boy and "panicked and was afraid."
According to investigators, Leiby may have fought back; scratches were discovered on Aron’s arms and wrists. Leiby’s remains also showed marks that may have been made by restraints.
Leiby was walking home from camp July 11 to meet his mother when he became lost and allegedly asked Aron for help.
Meanwhile, the boy’s parents marked the end of the seven-day shiva grieving period Wednesday morning with the religious tradition of walking outside their home in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.
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