4 weeks ago
13
Quinton Simon is one step closer to the justice he deserves.
In case you don’t remember the horrific story, the 20-month-old was missing for 40 days back in 2022 before his remains were discovered in a landfill in Savannah, Georgia. His mom, Leilani Simon, was a suspect in the case, and for a while the little boy’s grandmother had her own theories about what happened. Most recently, we heard that the toddler’s death wasn’t actually a drowning like originally theorized by her, but instead he was brutally beaten. Poor little baby.
Eventually, Leilani was arrested and slapped with 19 charges — including 2 counts of felony murder and 1 count of malice murder. It was believed she intentionally killed her son, and on Friday a verdict in the case was finally reached.
Related: Teen Carly Gregg Found Guilty For Murdering Mom
The State of Georgia declared her guilty on ALL COUNTS. In a Court TV live stream, she remains stoic throughout the verdict being read right up until the very end, where she starts to sob. Of course, this comes after the court had to hear about 10 days worth the horrific crimes she committed, like Officer Sophia Zurkee‘s recount of discovering the child’s body:
“I was raking through the garbage and I observed a white, small object. It fit in the palm of my hand. It looked like bone to me.”
She described the memory as “heartbreaking” and was so emotional she had to leave the stand that day.
The court also had to watch a video that was described as a “digital suicide” clip, filmed in August 2022, which the prosecution used to argue her mental state around the time. In the video, Leilani can be heard telling her children “mama tried” and seemingly saying her last wishes to them:
“To Skye, Zayne, Quinton, mama tried … And mama’s not here no more because she doesn’t love you – I do. I can’t love myself, and if I can’t love myself, how can I love ya’ll? I have tried over, and over, and over, and I’ve failed.”
Chilling… Even more so, prosecutor prosecutor Tim Dean pointed out how she praised all her children in the video, but when referencing Baby Q, she was pausing and, according to their argument, seemingly struggling:
“And, Quinton… you are… a little child… You’re so happy all the time, you smile all the time. I wish I could see the kind of man you could be, too.”
Hmm…
During closing arguments, the prosecutor once more spoke to Leilani:
“It’s literally unspeakable. And that is why she could not bring herself to admit it or tell the truth about it – because it is an unspeakable thing for a mother to kill her child. They sifted through the garbage and they found the truth…. now it’s your turn.”
But her defense attorney Martin Hilliar stood on his belief that no evidence was provided:
“They have speculated wildly, I might add, but they’ve produced no evidence.”
Sentencing will be announced at a later date. At the end of the video, Leilani can be seen chillingly mouthing to her lawyer “do you know how long the wait will be?” See the full verdict for yourself (below):
Such an awful situation. May Quinton rest in peace.
[Image via Court TV/YouTube/Chatham County Police Department]
English (US) ·