Leilani Simon: Trial, Verdict, and New Trial Motion

Leilani Simon is the Georgia woman convicted in October 2024 of murdering her 20-month-old son, Quinton Simon, and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years, plus 10 consecutive years for concealing his death. Quinton’s partial remains were recovered from a Chatham County landfill in November 2022 after a five-week search. Simon is incarcerated at Pulaski State Prison and, as of early 2026, is seeking a new trial.

What Happened to Quinton Simon

On October 5, 2022, Simon called 911 to report her 20-month-old son missing from the family home on Buckhalter Road in Chatham County, Georgia. She told the dispatcher she had last seen Quinton in his bed around 10:30 p.m. the previous night and found him gone at about 9:00 a.m., saying the front door was ajar and suggesting he had been abducted.¹

Quinton did not live in his mother’s custody. His grandmother, Billie Jo Howell, had legal custody of Quinton and his older sibling. In April 2022, Georgia’s Division of Child Support Services sued Simon for child support, and after she failed to appear, a judge ordered her to pay $150 per month. By early September, Howell had filed to evict Simon and her boyfriend, Daniel Youngkin, from the Buckhalter Road home.² After Quinton’s disappearance, Georgia officials determined Simon was “a chronic, unrehabilitated substance abuser of cocaine and cannabis.”³

Six days after the 911 call, the Chatham County Police Department publicly named Simon as the sole suspect in Quinton’s disappearance and presumed death.⁴ Police Chief Jeff Hadley said investigators had evidence Quinton was dead but withheld specifics.

The Landfill Search

Investigators used Flock camera data and surveillance footage to track Simon’s vehicle and confront her about inconsistencies in her account. She first claimed she had gone to a nearby gas station to buy Orajel for a friend, then admitted she had met a drug dealer to settle a debt.⁵ During an FBI interview, Simon broke down crying, saying she did not know what happened to Quinton and could not remember harming him, but added, “if I did, I would take responsibility.”¹

Volunteer experts used landfill data to pinpoint where Quinton’s remains were likely located.⁶ Over five weeks, investigators sifted through more than 1.2 million pounds of trash at the Waste Management Superior Landfill.⁷ On November 18, 2022, the final day of the search, an officer recovered Quinton’s skull.¹ The FBI Laboratory Division confirmed through DNA analysis that the bones were the toddler’s. Chief Hadley later said the chances of recovering remains from a landfill are historically less than five percent.

The 19-Count Indictment

Simon was arrested on November 21, 2022, three days after the remains were found. A Chatham County grand jury returned a 19-count indictment charging one count of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, concealing the death of another, making a false report of a crime, and 14 counts of making false statements to investigators.⁸ The indictment alleged Simon killed Quinton with an “unknown object” that caused “serious bodily injury” and disposed of his body in a dumpster near the Azalea Mobile Home Park.⁹ She pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors acknowledged a hard forensic reality before trial: because the body had gone from a dumpster to a landfill, no cause of death had been determined and likely never would be. Special Assistant District Attorney Tim Dean argued that dismissing the murder counts on that basis would be “tantamount to telling the Defendant and other would-be murderers: Get rid of the body entirely, and the Court will reward your cunning and depravity by declaring you beyond the reach of prosecution for murder.”¹⁰

The Trial and the Evidence Against Her

The trial opened October 14, 2024, in Chatham County Superior Court before Judge Tammy Stokes. District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones and Special Assistant DA Tim Dean led the prosecution. Simon was represented by Martin Hilliard and Robert Persse.⁷

The state’s case was largely digital and circumstantial. A security camera at an auto shop near the Azalea Mobile Home Park captured what was identified as Simon’s vehicle heading toward the park at 1:16 a.m. on October 5, 2022. A second camera at the park recorded headlights near the dumpsters, where the car sat for about two minutes before leaving. Video from the nearby gas station did not show Simon’s vehicle stopping there, contradicting her Orajel story.¹¹ Cell phone data placed her phone along the route to the dumpsters.¹

Prosecutors introduced text messages between Simon and Craig Weston, a drug dealer with whom she was having a sexual relationship in the days before Quinton’s disappearance, a relationship she had initially denied to police. Judge Stokes allowed the exchanges to show Simon had lied to investigators, though the defense excluded some of the more explicit messages as unduly prejudicial.¹

About 75 minutes of Simon’s FBI interview was played for the jury. She discussed her movements that night and eventually admitted she had driven to the mobile home park to dump trash, abandoning the Orajel story.¹ Expert witnesses testified that the condition of Quinton’s remains made a specific cause of death impossible to determine.¹²

The defense told jurors the state’s case rested on “rumors, gossip and bold conclusions they can’t prove.” Hilliard argued the prosecution never proved Simon personally caused Quinton’s death and that, without a cause of death, an accident could not be ruled out. He pointed to Daniel Youngkin, Simon’s then-boyfriend, who had initially told police he saw Quinton alive that morning.¹³

Youngkin’s account fell apart on the stand. He admitted his statement about seeing Quinton that morning was false and that he “didn’t look.” He testified he was abusing drugs and alcohol at the time and was asleep during the hours Quinton was killed. He confirmed he had cooperated with the FBI, letting agents monitor his phone, and that the FBI had bugged a hotel room he shared with Simon to try to catch her in a lie.¹⁴ Youngkin was never charged.¹⁵

Simon did not testify.

The Verdict and Sentence

On October 25, 2024, after about six hours of deliberation, the jury found Simon guilty on all 19 counts. Jury foreperson Valerie Kite later said jurors initially split eight to four on some charges and reviewed the judge’s instructions repeatedly to work through the definitions of the three separate murder counts before reaching unanimity. She said the surveillance footage, GPS data, and gas station video were decisive.¹⁶

Judge Stokes sentenced Simon on November 21, 2024. She received life in prison with the possibility of parole on the malice murder count, with parole eligibility after 40 years; 10 years consecutive for concealing the death of another; and concurrent sentences of 12 months to 5 years on the false-report and false-statement counts. The two felony murder counts were vacated, and three additional counts were merged.¹⁷

At sentencing, Simon’s mother, Billie Jo Howell, told the court she had neglected her daughter’s emotional needs because of her own drug addiction: “I failed her as a mom. I allowed addiction to take over my life at a young age.” Simon had spent about half her childhood with an aunt. Her stepfather, Thomas Howell, asked Judge Stokes to leave open the possibility of parole, saying, “I want her to have a chance one day to come out into the world.”⁴

The prosecution pushed back. Lead Detective Marian Lemmons testified Simon had implicated innocent people during the investigation, was out drinking the night investigators announced the landfill search for her son, and maintained a pen pal relationship with a convicted child molester while in jail. Prosecutors also cited a letter Simon sent from jail to WTOC asserting the state lacked factual evidence. Dean told the court, “She just doesn’t seem sorry at all. She really doesn’t seem sorry. She seems sorry that she got caught.”⁴

The Motion for a New Trial

In September 2025, Simon filed an amended motion for a new trial. Appellate attorney David Lock took over from trial counsel for the post-conviction proceedings.¹⁸ The motion raises three main grounds.

The first is insufficient evidence. The defense argues Simon should be acquitted of murder because the condition of the remains made cause of death impossible to establish, so accident or natural causes could not be ruled out.¹⁹ The second is that Simon’s statements to police amounted to custodial interrogation without proper warnings and should have been suppressed. The third is that admitting evidence about her sexual relationship with Craig Weston was error because its “unfair prejudice substantially outweighed any probative value.”²⁰

Judge Stokes held a hearing on January 9, 2026. Simon attended by video from Pulaski State Prison. Lock argued for acquittal or a new trial, and the state chose to respond in writing rather than argue in court, taking a 45-day window to file.¹⁹ A ruling on the motion remains pending.¹⁸

1
Court TV. GA v. Leilani Simon: Toddler in Landfill Murder Trial
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Savannah Morning News. Chatham County Police Chief Says Search for Toddler Quinton Simon Now Criminal Investigation
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NewsNation. Babysitter: Quinton Simon May Have Drowned
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WTOC. Leilani Simon to Be Sentenced Thursday
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Fox 5 Atlanta. Leilani Simon Murder Trial Day 2: FBI Agents Outline Search for Quinton
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FBI. FBI Atlanta Confirms Partial Remains of Quinton Simon Recovered
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Georgia Woman Found Guilty of Murder After Toddler’s Remains Found at Landfill
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WRBL. Leilani Simon Facing 19-Count Indictment Including Malice and Felony Murder
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NBC News. Georgia Mother Sentenced to Life for Killing Son Quinton Simon
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WPDE. Chatham County Leilani Simon Murder Case
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WJCL. Leilani Simon Mobile Home Dumpster Video
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WTOC. Leilani Simon Files Amended Motion for New Trial
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Savannah Morning News. Jurors Hear Closing Arguments in Leilani Simon Trial
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WJCL. Leilani Simon: Daniel Youngkin Murder Trial Testimony
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WTOC. WTOC Exclusive: Leilani Simon’s Ex-Boyfriend Speaks Out
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WRDW. Leilani Simon Juror Speaks Out on How Murder Verdict Was Reached
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Court TV. Leilani Simon Sentenced to 40 Years Before Eligible for Parole
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WRDW. Leilani Simon Fights for New Trial in Georgia Murder of Her Son
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WTOC. Mother Convicted of Toddler Murder Seeks New Trial in Chatham County Court
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Court TV. Leilani Simon Convicted in Toddler Son’s Murder Wants New Trial