Mother accused of killing her infant son and dumping his body in a dumpster has been found guilty of murder.

SAVANNAH, GA ((VTOC/Gray News) – A jury has found Leilani Simon, the woman accused of killing her 20-month-old son and disposing of his body in 2022, guilty.

Leilani Simon was charged with capital murder, hiding a body and lying to police in connection with the death of her son Quinton Simon. She was found guilty of all charges.

Quinton Simon was reported missing on October 5, 2022. It was only six days later that Quinton’s mother Leilani was named as the sole suspect in his disappearance and death.

On November 18, 2022, Quinton’s remains were found at the Chatham County landfill. Leilani was arrested three days later.

The jury’s verdict comes after eight days of testimony.

Simon will be sentenced at a later date. She faces life imprisonment.

Prosecutors say it was a verdict that compensated for the lack of physical evidence.

“It was a difficult case because in this case we didn’t have a cause or manner of death because of what happened, so that’s always a concern. But the law enforcement agencies involved did a very good job investigating this case, and we did everything we could to present the evidence they had,” said Chatham County Assistant District Attorney Jenny Parker.

The jury was presented with 40 prosecution witnesses and nearly 100 pieces of evidence that the state said indicated Simon killed Quinton and dumped his body in a dumpster.

But still, the nearly six hours of jury deliberations became tense for the defendants in the case.

“You can’t take that kind of responsibility lightly, so I think they thought through the evidence, they were diligent in how they approached this, they took the necessary time to come to this conclusion,” the county police chief said Chatham. police officer Jeff Hadley.

Simon rarely cried throughout the trial, but was seen crying before he was taken away.

Parker says she believes justice has been served for Quinton and his mother.

“We can’t undo this. We can’t. But I hope that this will give a lot of people watching this trial some closure and some confidence in the justice system,” Parker said.

Leilani Simon’s mother, Billie Howell, was not present at the trial, but told WTOC she felt justice was served.

Howell responded in a statement to WTOC, saying: “Our family is devastated and Quinton deserves justice. We want Quinton to come home so he can be buried. I hate that I’m not there for Leilani. We love her, but we don’t support any of this.”

WTOC asked Leilani Simon’s lawyers to comment, but they declined.

The Chatham County Police Department held a news conference following the sentencing Friday. Chief Hadley said in part: “Quinton Simon truly became a Chatham County baby in the weeks our community was gripped by his disappearance. It is fitting that today 12 men and women from our county brought the final measure of justice to little Quinton with a guilty verdict. We hope this brings some peace and comfort to everyone who loved Quinton.”

The Chatham County District Attorney’s Office also released a statement to the press following the sentencing.

“As with any case involving death or serious injury, especially those involving child victims, my condolences go out to Baby Quinton’s family and those mourning his tragic death,” District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones.

In her statement, Jones acknowledged that while the verdict won’t bring Baby Q back, she hopes it will force them to be more diligent in protecting vulnerable child victims and intervening early in cases where neglect and harm are clear.

“No matter what her sentence is, this mother will have to live with her actions every day of her life, and that is a prison in itself,” Jones said.