Quinton Simon case: Mother of murdered Georgia toddler indicted on 19 counts
CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. - The mother of Quinton Simon, the 20-month-old boy who was reported missing by his mother in October, was indicted on 19 counts in connection with the toddler's murder on Wednesday.
Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones announced those charges for 22-year-old Leilani Simon, the baby's mother, during an afternoon press conference. Simon was arrested Nov. 21 after Quinton’s body was found in a nearby landfill.
Simon faces malice murder, two counts of felony murder, concealing the death of another, false report of a crime, making a false statement, and 14 counts of making a false statement.
The eight-page indictment reveals a few more details about what investigators believe happened to Quinton and how police say his mother continued to cover it up.
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Quinton Simon (Chatham County Police Department)
The indictments allege Quinton was killed "on or about" Oct. 5. A grand jury believes Simon "did make an assault upon the person of her son Quinton Simon with an object being unknown to the grand jury at this time." The indictments further states that it did cause "cruel and excessive physical pain" for the toddler.
Simon then continually lied to police during the investigation, the indictments allege. On Oct. 5, when she reported Quinton missing, she told police he was "abducted by an unknown intruder." She also "admitted that she had left her home in the late night hours of October 4, 2022 to meet her drug dealer, falsely stating that the purpose of this meeting was to pay for an existing drug debt." The indictments also allege she also lied about her drug use stating she only ever uses marijuana and the only "controlled substance she had used in the past twenty-four hours was marijuana."
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The court document shows she told investigators she left her home the morning of Oct. 5 to meet a friend at a gas station to get Orajel. Investigators believe instead of meeting that friend, she was dumping the 20-month-old boy’s body into the garbage dumpster at the Azalea Mobile Home Plaza, the indictment alleges.
She would again tell investigators the same lies three day later and again a week after Quinton’s reported disappearance, the indictment alleges.
On Oct. 31, the indictment reveals she changed her story and told investigators her boyfriend, Daniel Youngkin, was actually the one to leave the home the morning of Quinton’s reported disappearance. She would repeat that same story to investigators the day she was taken into custody.
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DA Jones says this is an ongoing investigation and more details will be revealed, but through the normal court process.
Leilani Simon remains in the Chatham County Jail.