Simon, 22, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility for parole in the death of her 1-year-old son Quinton
Leilani Simon, the Georgia mother who was convicted of murder in the death of her 20-month-old son, has been sentenced to life in prison — and she says she wants her son's ashes to be given to her brother.
According to reports from the Savannah Morning News, WSAV and Newsweek, Chatham County Superior Court Judge Tammy Stokes sentenced 22-year-old Simon to life in prison with the possibility of parole plus 10 years.
Her sentencing comes over one month after she was found guilty of all 19 charges against her in connection with her 20-month-old son Quinton Simon's death more than two years ago.
“The one thing that I will say before pronouncing sentence is clearly little Quinton Simon’s life and death impacted many, many individuals but also the community at large,” the judge said at the sentencing, per WSAV.
Although Simon did not testify, she answered questions from the press, and stated that she wanted her son's remains to be released to her brother, Paul Simon.
"I want my baby home," she said, per Newsweek.
Quinton was first reported missing in early October 2022 when his mother called 911 to tell police the boy had vanished from his playpen at the family’s Georgia home.
Days later, police publicly stated that Simon was the "prime suspect" in her son's disappearance, and said at a press conference per WTOC-TV that she was holding out hope her son was still alive.
The 22-year-old mother said at the time that she hoped her son would be found "happy and alive. We want him back in our arms, holding us. That's what we want."
"We're just hoping that he's in somebody's house and they're feeding him and maybe they wanted a baby or couldn't have a baby," she told the station. "Maybe they thought they were his savior. That's our best hope at this point."
She maintained her innocence for more than a month until investigators discovered the boy's body in a nearby landfill, according to local outlet WJCL.
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During her trial, acquaintances, family members and authorities testified against Simon, including her son's 17-year-old babysitter, who alleged that Simon was physically abusive and neglectful towards her son.
"She said that she did not love him at all," the babysitter testified in October, per WJCL, recalling incidents where Simon pushed Quinton into a pool, refused to help him down the stairs resulting in him becoming injured and hit him.
Defense attorneys for Simon argued that the state's case didn't have enough evidence and was too based on emotions to convict her.
"We said at the beginning that most, if not all, of the State's case was based on speculation and character assassination," defense attorney Martin Hilliard said during closing statements, per Newsweek.
Simon was convicted last month of two felony murder counts, a malice murder count, concealing a death, reporting a false crime and 14 counts of making false statements to investigators.