Quinton Simon’s mother, Leilani Simon, convicted of murdering toddler

Leilani SimonA Georgia mother who claimed she was “hoping” police would find her 20-month-old son “happy and alive” when he went missing in October 2022 was found guilty of murder on Friday, October 25.

Simon, 22, was found guilty of all 19 charges brought against her in connection with her 20-month-old son. Quinton Simondeath more than two years ago, local VZHKL, VTOC And ARDV reported.

Quinton was first reported missing in early October 2022 when his mother called 911 and told police the boy had disappeared from a playpen at the family’s Georgia home.

Days later, police publicly said Simon was the “prime suspect” in Quinton’s disappearance, while she continued to maintain her innocence for more than a month until investigators discovered the boy’s body in a nearby landfill, according to local reports. VZHKL.

Simon was arrested and charged with the murder of his son.

The mother was found guilty of two counts of murder, voluntary manslaughter, concealing a death, reporting a false crime and 14 counts of making false statements to investigators, according to WRDW.

The mother protested her innocence shortly after her son’s disappearance in an interview with local television station WTOC-TV, telling the station she hoped police would find her son “happy and alive.”

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“We want him to be in our arms again and hold us. This is what we want,” she said. “We just hope he’s in someone’s home and he’s being fed and maybe they wanted a baby or couldn’t have a baby. Perhaps they thought they were his saviors. This is our best hope at the moment.”

WTOC-TV reported that Quinton’s grandmother, Billie Jo Howell, had custody of the child at the time of his disappearance, but was out of town the day he disappeared from his mother’s home.

The case received wide publicity after several media outlets, including New York Postreported that Simon and her mother Howell were seen drinking at a bar on Tybee Island in October 2022 during the search for Quinton. Days later, WTOC-TV reported that four protesters were arrested outside Simon’s home while protesting the accused mother.

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