As police investigate Levi Aron's apartment for more evidence in the brutal murder of 8 year-old Leiby Kletzky, one of Aron's defense lawyers, Gerard Marrone, quit the case Thursday night, citing "moral" issues in representing Aron, NBC News reports.
"I have three little boys," Marrone said, according to The New York Daily News. "You can't look at your kids and then look at yourself in the mirror, knowing that a little boy, who's close in age to my eldest son, was murdered so brutally."
Marrone is an experienced defense attorney, who is also a former amateur boxer.
He walks with a limp because he was shot in the back when he was 21.
He's taken hits before, but he says he's had a difficult time dealing with the reality of this case.
"A little piece of me died when I got the case," Marrone said.
Aron's other attorney, Pierre Bazile, announced in a statement Friday that he had replaced Marrone with Jennifer McCann, according to NBC News, a prominent defense attorney with experience defending clients with insanity pleas.
Aron is still undergoing psychological evaluation at Bellevue Hospital. Earlier reports suggest he hears voices and may be schizophrenic.
McCann most famously defended Kathleen Prisco, who killed her husband and was found not guilty by reason of insanity. McCann also defended Nathan Powell-- who was convicted of murdering and beheading a film director in 2003-- and won an appeal for a lesser sentence based in part on a defense that Powell suffered post-traumatic stress from 9/11.
Meanwhile, investigators have removed more children's clothes from Aron's apartment, The New York Post reports, including two boxes labeled "kids pants" and "blue child's spoon, pink cup". According to police, there is no indication that Aron attacked other children.
Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne told the News, "The evidence so far, including clothing items, relates to the one victim."
Wednesday, a grand jury handed up an eight-count indictment against Levi Aron, including two counts of felony murder, CBS News reports.
Leiby Kletky's parents released a statement to Chabad.org Thursday, after completing shiva, the traditional Jewish week of mourning.
They thanked G-d for the "nearly nine beautiful years that He entrusted [them] with Leiby’s pure soul" and thanked friends, neighbors, policeman and volunteers who assisted them "physically, emotionally, spiritually."
"We pray that none of you should ever have to live through what we did," the parents wrote. "But if any tragedy is to ever befall any of you, G‑d forbid, you should be blessed with a community and public as supportive as ours. We feel that through Leiby we’ve become family with you all."