Two 12-year-old boys accused of tossing a shopping cart off a Manhattan shopping center walkway, critically injuring a woman below, pled not guilty Friday in family court.

Both are being charged as juvenile delinquents and face charges of assault, reckless endangerment and depraved indifference.

The boys are being held by the Administration for Childrens Services until their trial on November 18.

Lawyers for both boys argued that they should be released into the custody of their families, with one saying that the boys were not targeting anyone.

"The argument really was to get Jeovanni released home with services that are available in the community right now," said Shahabuddeen Ally, the lawyer for the boy identified as "Jeovanni R."

He added that the shopping cart toss was "silly, foolish, and sophomoric" but not intentional.

"The heightened media attention here made this family very aware if the gravity of these proceedings," said Shandeep Kandhari, the lawyer for the other 12-year-old identified in court papers as "Raymond H."

Outside the courtroom, the mother of Jeovanni offered an apology to the victim, Marion Hedges, 47, who remains in critical condition at Harlem Hospital.

“My heart goes out to Mrs. Hedges, her children, family. But I'm also a mother, I gotta be by my son's side. He's only 12 years old," said the mom. "He's a good kid. I just need help. I'm a single mom."

Raymond's parents ran from the media.

Investigators say Hedges suffered major head trauma when she was hit by the cart just before 6 p.m. Sunday at the East River Plaza parking garage in East Harlem.

Police say she was walking on the ground level with her son at the time. Hedges could face extensive rehabilitation as she struggles to recover from the injuries.

Meantime, new legislation is being proposed in response to the incident.

City Councilman James Vacca wants the city to close what he says is a dangerous building code loophole.

He's introducing legislation that would require private developers to put up eight foot fences on walkways similar to the ones at the East Harlem shopping center.

Councilman Vacca says the standard 42 inch railing doesn't offer enough protection.

"That's kind of low. Anything could happen, just looking over you know," said one shopper. "Something could happen to the kids or anything like that. And it be always crowded so I think that's a good idea, lifting up the fences a little bit higher."

Vacca say he wants to mirror the eight foot fence requirement for similar construction on city land.

Security has been beefed up since the incident, with guards now on every floor of the facility.