Savannah, Georgia — Opening statements began Monday in the trial of a Georgia woman accused of killing her 20-month-old son and dumping his body in a trash can two years ago.
Leilani Simon, of Savannah, was indicted on 19 counts charging her with malice murder, felony murder, concealing the death of another and making false statements about the death of her son, Quinton Simon. She pleaded not guilty.
Simon called 911 on the morning of October 5, 2022, to report that his son was missing from his indoor playpen at their home outside of Savannah. After police spent days searching the home and surrounding neighborhood, Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said investigators believed the child was dead. He also named Simon as the sole suspect.
WSAV-TV via AP
Police and FBI agents focused their investigation on a dump two weeks after the boy was reported missing. They searched the trash for more than a month before finding human bones, which DNA testing confirmed belonged to Quinton.
In opening statements Monday, prosecutor Tim Dean described the upheaval in Simon’s life at the time of his son’s disappearance.
According to CBS Savannah affiliate WTOC-TV, that included what the state said was a less loving relationship with Quinton than with his other two children. “She treated Quinton differently, and not in a good way,” Dean said.
Dean outlined to the jury Simon’s tumultuous relationship with her then-boyfriend, Daniel Youngkin, which the state said placed an enormous strain on her emotional state, WTOC reported.
Dean said Simon spent the late hours of Oct. 4 and Oct. 5 getting high on cocaine and Percocet, killing his son, throwing him in the trash and then falling asleep.
“She killed him and her own son, got in her car with his body, drove to a dumpster and threw him away like trash,” Dean said.
Videos of Simon’s interviews with police and body camera footage were also shown to jurors. Dean said Simon changed his story about where she was several times. Nearly a week after the interviews, Simon changed her story again to say that she may have lost consciousness and didn’t remember what really happened.
“I will never touch cocaine again. I get angry and impulsive when I do it,” Simon said during the 2022 police interview.
In the nearly two hours Dean spent presenting the case against Simon, he never said how prosecutors believed she killed his son. The state said the child’s body was too decomposed when it was found to tell a story about how he died.
In contrast, the defense took just three minutes to deliver its opening statement, in which it accused the State of basing its case on rumors and speculation, not hard evidence.
“The primary conclusion is that Leilani Maree Simon murdered her child. The evidence simply will not support that bold conclusion,” defense attorney Robert Persse said.
One of the prosecution’s first witnesses was Sgt. Bobby Stewart, the first police officer to arrive on the scene when the little child was reported missing. Stewart testified to Simon’s behavior upon arrival.
“Do you consider his behavior to be consistent with that of other parents you have spoken to in cases of missing children?” » asked the prosecutor.
“No sir, I didn’t,” Stewart replied.
More testimony was expected Tuesday from witnesses including other Chatham County Police Department employees, as well as the child’s babysitter and her daughter.
