Georgia mother Leilani Simon found guilty of killing her 20-month-old son

CNN
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A Georgia jury last week found Leilani Simon guilty of killing her 20-month-old son, as well as several other charges, including concealing a death and making false statements, according to Associated Press.

Simon’s Conviction in Savannah The Chatham County case comes a little more than two years after she reported her son Quinton missing, first telling investigators she last saw him in his playpen early that morning. one morning in October 2022. Weeks later, the remains of Quinton, by then called “the baby of Chatham County,” the police chief said last week, were found in dump.

The FBI “confirmed through DNA testing that the bones found” belonged to the baby, the agency said in a release. statement.

Simon, 24, was charged with 19 counts, including voluntary manslaughter, two counts of capital murder, concealing the death of another, falsely reporting a crime and 14 counts of making false statements. After eight days of testimony, the jury found her guilty of all 19 crimes, the AP reported.

Simon faces life in prison without parole and will be sentenced at a later date, her lawyer Martin Hilliard told CNN. Simon plans to appeal the verdict, he said.

At trial, prosecutors presented more than 40 witnesses and nearly 100 pieces of evidence to prove that Simon killed Quinton and dumped his body in a dumpster. CNN affiliate WTOC reported..

It was a “challenging case” to prosecute because the state was missing some evidence considered key to any murder trial, including an autopsy of the victim and the cause and manner of death, due to the nature of the crime, the aide said Chatham County District Attorney. Jenny Parker admitted it.

“But the law enforcement agencies involved did such a good job investigating this case, and we did everything we could to present the evidence that they had,” Parker told reporters after the sentencing.

In its opening statement, the state acknowledged that it did not intend to prove how Simon killed her son, but simply that she did it, describing her drug use, the deterioration of her relationship with her boyfriend and her changing stories after Quinton’s disappearance. according to VTOS data.

The defense argued that the state based its case on hearsay and speculation, and the evidence did not support a murder conviction.

Indeed, as the trial neared its conclusion, Simon’s lawyers asked the judge to rule that the jury did not have enough evidence to find her guilty on charges of murder and concealing the death of another person, asking for a not guilty verdict on those charges. , WTOC reported. The judge rejected the request.

Simon and her legal team are “disappointed in the verdict,” Hilliard, her lawyer, told CNN in an email Monday. “While we accept the sentence, Miss Simon will appeal this sentence following sentencing at a later date.”

For local officials like Chatham County Police Chief Hadley, the jury’s verdict was a fitting closure to a case that began with the community consumed by Quinton’s disappearance.

“Quinton Simon truly became a Chatham County baby in the weeks that our community was gripped by his disappearance,” Hadley said Friday. “Today it is fitting that 12 men and women from our community brought the final measure of justice to little Quinton with a guilty verdict.”