Editor’s Note: (11/21/24) Leilani Simon was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility for parole, plus an additional 10 years.
(CNN) — A Georgia jury last week found Leilani Simon guilty of murdering her 20-month-old son, along with a series of other charges, including concealing a death and making false statements, according to The Associated Press.
Simon’s conviction in Savannah’s Chatham County comes just over two years after she reported her son Quinton missing, at first telling investigators she’d last seen him in his playpen early one morning in October 2022. Weeks later, the remains of Quinton – by then beloved as “Chatham County’s child,” its police chief said last week – were discovered in a landfill.
The FBI “confirmed through DNA analysis the bones found” belonged to the toddler, the agency said in a statement.
Simon, 24, was indicted on 19 charges, including malice murder, two counts of felony murder, concealing the death of another, making a false report of a crime and 14 counts of making a false statement. After eight days of testimony, the jury found her guilty of all 19 crimes, the AP reported.
Simon faces up to life in prison without parole, with sentencing set to take place at a later date, her attorney, Martin Hilliard, told CNN. Simon plans to appeal the verdict, he said.
At trial, prosecutors presented more than 40 witnesses and almost 100 pieces of evidence to make the case Simon killed Quinton and put his body in a dumpster, CNN affiliate WTOC reported.
It was a “complex case” to prosecute because the state lacked some evidence seen as key to any murder trial – including an autopsy of the victim and a cause and manner of death – due to the nature of the crime, Chatham County Assistant District Attorney Jenny Parker acknowledged.
“But the law enforcement agencies involved did such a good job investigating this case, and we did our best presenting the evidence that they had,” Parker told reporters after the verdict.
In its opening statement, the state acknowledged it did not intend to prove how Simon killed her son but simply that she had – outlining her drug use, her deteriorating relationship with a boyfriend and her shifting stories following Quinton’s disappearance, according to WTOC.
The defense argued the state had built its case on rumor and speculation, and the evidence would not support a murder conviction.
Indeed, as the trial neared its conclusion, Simon’s attorneys asked the judge to rule there was not enough evidence for the jury to find her guilty on the murder charges and concealing the death of another, asking for a directed verdict of an acquittal on those charges, WTOC reported. The judge denied the request.
Simon and her legal team “are disappointed with the verdict,” Hilliard, her attorney, told CNN in an email Monday. “While we accept the verdict, Miss Simon will appeal said verdict after her sentencing which will be at a later date.”
For local officials like Chatham County Police Chief Hadley, the jury’s verdict was a fitting end to a case that began with a community absorbed by Quinton’s disappearance.
“Quinton Simon truly became Chatham County’s child during the weeks that our community was gripped by his disappearance,” Hadley said Friday. “It is fitting today that 12 men and women from our community delivered the final measure of justice for little Quinton with their guilty verdict.”
