Georgia woman accused of killing her baby found guilty of murder

SAVANNAH, GA — A Georgia woman accused of killing her 20-month-old son and dumping his body in a trash bin two years ago has been found guilty of murder.

A jury on Friday found Leilani Simon guilty of all 19 charges against her in the death of her son Quinton Simon, local news outlets reported. These include charges of murder, capital murder, concealing the death of another person and making false statements.

The jury heard testimony from witnesses for eight days and began deliberating Thursday, news outlets reported. They deliberated for about two hours that day before adjourning for the day. The jury resumed deliberations around 9:30 a.m. Friday and their unanimous verdict was announced at 2:30 p.m.

Simon called 911 on the morning of October 5, 2022, to report that her son was missing from his playpen at their home outside of Savannah. After police spent several days searching the home and surrounding area, Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said investigators believe the child is dead. He also named Simon as the only suspect.

Police and FBI agents focused their investigation on dump two weeks after the boy was reported missing. They rummaged through the trash for more than a month before finding human bones that DNA testing confirmed belonged to Quinton.