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Second Boy Pleads Guilty to Tossing Target Shopping Cart Onto Broker

By DNAinfo Staff on November 23, 2011 11:18am

Marion Hedges, seen here at the New York Junior League's 55th Annual Winter Ball on March 2, 2007.
Marion Hedges, seen here at the New York Junior League's 55th Annual Winter Ball on March 2, 2007.
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Patrick McMullen

MANHATTAN FAMILY COURT — A second boy charged with critically injuring a real estate broker by tossing a Target shopping cart from the fourth story of the East River Plaza's parking garage pleaded guilty to assault Wednesday.

The 12-year-old boy, whose name is being withheld by DNAinfo, admitted he tossed the shopping cart onto 47-year-old Marion Hedges as she stood on the first-floor near the entrance to Costco beneath them at approximately 6 p.m. on Oct. 31.

"Me and [the other boy] were throwing a shopping cart off the fourth story in the mall," the boy said softly in court on Wednesday as his mother and attorney stood at his side.

"Did you understand if somebody got hit with a shopping cart from four stories up, they could get seriously hurt?" Judge Susan Larabee asked.

The boy quietly replied that "yes" he knew he it was dangerous. His friend, who turned 13 last week, pleaded guilty to assault on Friday.

The blow from the heavy plastic cart sent Hedges into a coma and she was hospitalized for weeks at Harlem Hospital. She was released from that hospital, but it's unclear whether she's still receiving inpatient medical treatment.

The judge declined to release either boy into their parents' custody for the Thanksgiving holiday, saying she needed to know more about who was responsible for taking care of him before she released him to the community.

"[We ask] that In light of the holidays, the fact that he has so much family that loves him so much that he be allowed to spend the holidays there," his attorney Sandeep Kandhariy argued.

Both boys are in custody at non-secure ACS facilities that are essentially group homes for children and teens who are sent there.

"I'm not saying I'm never going to let him go home but I need more information," Larabee said of the child who appeared today.

Hedges, an avid philanthropist, was at the mall purchasing Halloween candy for disadvantaged children when she was hurt. Her son was standing beside her at the time, and was not hurt.

The boys are expected to remain in custody until their next court appearance, scheduled for Dec. 6 and 7. They face up to 18 months in juvenile detention at sentencing, and their sentence could be extended indefinitely until they reach age 18.