Chatham County prosecutors pushing to block camera access at Leilani Simon's murder trial

Leilani Simon was absent from her court hearing Wednesday afternoon, where a stand-in judge ruled on media access during parts of her upcoming murder trial. Simon is charged with killing her 20-month-old child, Quinton Simon, who disappeared from his Chatham County home back in October.Below file video: Leilani Simon indicted on 19 counts for killing Quinton SimonHis remains were found weeks later at a landfill.She waved her right to appear in court, but her public defendant, Robert Attridge was present Wednesday along with assistant district attorney Tim Dean. TRENDING STORIESMurdaugh Murder Trial: Live CoverageSouth Carolina police chief suspended following his arrest on misconduct chargesSavannah man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend at work officially indicted on 5 chargesJudge Michael Karpf stood in for Judge Tammy Stokes, who has been appointed to rule over the case, for the hearing. Judge Karpf says Stokes was “unavoidably” absent. A motions hearing was also scheduled to take place following the hearing about media. Simon’s attorney filed a motion asking the the court review all Department of Family and Children Services related to her family, requesting an “in camera” inspection of the records to ensure a fair trial. Judge Karpf granted media access for the afternoon. But, with Dean voicing strong opposition against media coverage of the trial, Judge Karpf left the ruling to Judge Stokes. When WJCL asked Dean if he knew the motions hearing was canceled ahead of court, he said he would not comment.