- Leilani Simon has been accused of killing her 20-month-old son Quinton and dumping his body two years ago
- The suspect appeared in court on Monday, Oct. 14, where her attorney argued there wasn’t enough evidence to accuse her of killing her son
- “The core conclusion is that Leilani Maree Simon murdered her child. The evidence will simply not support that bold conclusion,” Defense Attorney, Robert Persse, said, per WTOC
A Georgia mother accused of beating her 20-month-old son to death and placing his remains in a dumpster has reportedly denied committing the crimes.
On Monday, Oct. 14 Leilani Simon — who has been indicted on 19 charges, including murder, as well as making false statements, concealing a death and other counts — appeared at the Chatham County courthouse for the first day of her trial.
In their opening remarks, her defense team insisted there wasn’t enough evidence to prove she murdered her son, Quinton Simon, reported multiple outlets including the Associated Press.
“This case can’t be decided based on emotions,” her Defense Attorney, Robert Persse, said at the trial, according to WSAV.
“It must be decided based on facts and evidence presented in this courtroom. It can’t be determined by their rumors, their gossip, and their conclusions. In the end that is what you will determine is that that is the foundation of the state’s claims,” Persse added, per the outlet.
“The core conclusion is that Leilani Maree Simon murdered her child. The evidence will simply not support that bold conclusion,” Persse said, according to WTOC.
Chatham County Police Department
Simon first reported Quinton’s missing on Oct. 5, 2022. At the time, she claimed he vanished from his playpen inside their Ga. home. A set of human remains were later recovered from a Savannah, Ga. landfill on Nov. 18 of that year, and the Atlanta FBI confirmed 10 days later they belonged to the missing toddler.
Simon is accused of killing her son and dumping him in the trash at Azalea Mobile Home Plaza before going to sleep, reported WTOC.
At Monday’s trial, prosecutor Tim Dean spoke about Simon’s “deteriorating relationship with her then-boyfriend Daniel Youngkin,” per WTOC, stating that the suspect had “spent the late hours of Oct. 4 into Oct. 5” allegedly “getting high off cocaine.”
“She killed him, her own son, got in her car with his body, drove to a dumpster, and threw him away like a piece of trash,” Dean said in court, per the outlet.
“She treated Quinton differently, and not in a good way,” Dean added, referencing Simon’s other two children, reported WTOC.
Leilani Simon.
Chatham County Police
On Monday, Chatham County Police Department (CCPD) Sergeant Bobby Stewart took the stand to recall the moment he interviewed Simon after she’d reported her son missing.
When asked by Dean if she behaved the same way as other mothers of missing children he had encountered throughout his career, the officer replied, “No sir,” the outlet reported.
Simon was previously accused of lying to police about the purpose of her trip to Azalea Mobile Home Plaza — which is about two miles from her house — before her son was reported missing. She’d originally claimed she went to the location to obtain the pain reliever Orajel from her friend Misty, per the indictment, we reported in December 2022.
Simon later told authorities she was at the mobile home park to get rid of “normal household garbage,” per FOX 5 Atlanta.
The accused initially made public pleas for help in finding the little boy. “We’re just hoping that he’s in somebody’s house and they’re feeding him and maybe they wanted a baby or couldn’t have a baby,” she previously told WTOC-TV when Quinton was still considered missing.
“Maybe they thought they were his savior. That’s our best hope at this point,” she added at the time.
