Suspected killer Levi Aron to plead guilty to murdering Brooklyn schoolboy, Leiby Kletzkys

Levi Aron, who held the boy captive for a day before killing him, is scheduled to plead guilty to the crime next week and face at least 40 years in prison, according to a state assemblyman, the New York Times reported.

It is understood the boy's parents had been discussing the plea with leaders in the Jewish community because they did not want to endure a lengthy trial.

“They are very much supportive if a deal could be reached, because the last thing they wanted was to have to live through the horror of those three days,” said the assemblyman, Dov Hikind, who is close with the boy’s family and is acting as a spokesman.

The Brooklyn district attorney’s office and Howard Greenberg, a lawyer for the accused, declined to comment, but a law enforcement official close to the investigation confirmed the terms of the plea deal. 

The tragedy occurred when Leiby became lost on July 11 last year while walking back for the first time from his summer day camp in Borough Park, after begging his parents to allow him to make the seven-block trip alone.

He stopped to ask directions from Aron who allegedly abducted him and held him for a day before killing him and cutting up his body.

Detectives found pieces of the boy's body in a refrigerator freezer in Aron’s apartment.

A family friend told the New York Daily News that the dead boy’s father, Nacham Kletzky, had been discussing the plea with leaders in the Jewish community.

“They don't want to have any more open wounds,” a family friend said.

Leiby’s family wants “to bring this to a conclusion,” Hikind added.

“The family has to live with this for the rest of their lives,” he said. “The idea of having a trial was not something that they wanted to go through. They want to make sure that there is justice.”

Aron is due to face court on August 9 where he is expected to enter the plea.