Quinton Simon’s mom, Leilani, pleads not guilty to murdering Georgia toddler
The mother of Quinton Simon, the 20-month-old Georgia boy who vanished last month, pleaded not guilty Wednesday after being charged with his disappearance and murder, according to a report.
A public defender entered the plea on behalf of Leilani Simon, 22, at Chatham County Court. Simon was initially expected to appear in court herself, but ultimately did not, according to FOX 28 Savannah. The judge denied bail and she will not be allowed out of prison on bond.
Simon first reported her son missing at 9 a.m. Oct. 5. He was last seen at the Savannah home she shared with her boyfriend, her 3-year-old son and her mom — who had custody of both children. She allegedly told the police she believed someone took her son.
No motive has been released, but her mom, Billie Jo Howell, previously said she didn’t trust her daughter.
“She hasn’t always done the right thing,” Howell admitted in an interview.
Police ultimately said they believed Quinton was dead, and spent weeks combing through a landfill for his remains, which they believe they found on Nov. 18.
To get the denial of bail, prosecutors could reasonably have argued Simon poses a flight risk after she left her town and went boozing with her mom in October while authorities were searching a landfill for her son’s remains.
While she did not break any laws by fleeing her home — where media had been camped out — it was seen in bad taste that the grieving mother and her mother, Howell, chose to make the trip.
They were spotted on the deck of Sting Ray’s on Tybee Island, just outside Savannah, Georgia, where they were “drinking Patron shots in the deck area, being loud and laughing,” a restaurant employee told the Post.
In an interview with WTOC-TV in late October Leilani said she still hoped Quinton would be recovered.
“We want him back in our arms, holding us. That’s what we want,” she said, adding: “We’re just hoping that he’s in somebody’s house .. maybe they wanted a baby or couldn’t have a baby. Maybe they thought they were his savior. That’s our best hope at this point.”
Quinton’s biological father, Henry ‘Bubba’ Lee also said Leilani had blamed him for the disappearance, telling authorities he had allegedly abducted him in the middle of the night, something he strongly denied.
“They asked did I have him and when was the last time I was in Savannah?
“They told me Leilani said I came and got him overnight,” he told the Daily Mail.
