CNN
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The mother of a toddler whose body was found in a Savannah landfill last year pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder, among other charges, on Thursday.
Leilani Simon, 20-month-old Quinton Simon’s mother, had reported him missing in October 2022. Simon had been the sole suspect in the case and was arrested in November.
Simon made her first appearance in court Thursday morning on a 19-count indictment that was handed down in December, according to court documents. She faces multiple charges, including murder, concealing a death, false report of a crime and 14 counts of making false statements, court documents show.
Chatham County Judge Tammy Stokes denied Simon’s attorney’s request for bond Thursday “based on the risk that she would commit a felony while on bond and there’s risk of flight as well.”
Judge Stokes also denied Simon’s lawyer’s request to postpone her client’s arraignment, saying hearings for future motions would be scheduled only after an arraignment.
The judge also said motion hearings in the case will be scheduled soon.
Simon’s attorney had filed a motion on Wednesday seeking to dismiss some of the charges that allege Simon made multiple false statements about her son’s disappearance, court documents show. Simon had reported her son missing from their home on October 5. She had told authorities she last saw him in his playpen around 6 a.m. and reported him missing more than three hours later.
Simon was arrested on November 21. Later that month, authorities discovered partial remains in a landfill. The FBI confirmed “through DNA analysis the bones found in the Superior Landfill” were those of Quinton, a news release at the time said.
Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones said at the time: “These are the cases that keep us up at night. These are the cases that deserve justice.”
