The mother of missing Georgia 20-month-old Quinton Simon said she has to “barricade” her home and that she can’t go outside without facing “harassment and negligence” in an interview with local media Monday.
Detectives have dubbed Leilani Simon, 22, the “prime suspect” in Quinton’s disappearance and suspected death, Chatham County police said earlier this month. But she has not been charged with a crime.
“We are saddened to report that CCPD and the FBI have notified Quinton Simon’s family that we believe he is deceased,” the Chatham County Police Department tweeted on Oct. 12. “We have named his mother, Leilani Simon, as the prime suspect in his disappearance and death. But, no arrests have been made and no charges have been filed.”
Over the weekend, police conducted additional interviews in the investigation after conducting a search at a local landfill that failed to recover the little boy’s remains. According to investigators, they believe the child was abandoned in a dumpster sometime after he was last seen three weeks ago.
MISSING GEORGIA TODDLER QUINTON SIMON: POLICE LINK BABY TO ‘SPECIFIC DUMPSTER,’ PORTION OF LANDFILL
Leilani Simon, mother of Quinton Simon, posing for an undated photo.
(Chatham County Police Department/ Facebook)
“I’m not running and I’m not hiding,” Simon told the Savannah-based WTOC 11 Monday. “And if something does come up that I am at fault, I will take myself to that police station.”
However, she added that her family is being harassed by people who suspect her of wrongdoing, and that a makeshift memorial in Quentin’s honor was slapped with a sign that reads “Baby Killer,” according to the outlet.
“In my experience, this is not the statement of someone innocent,” tweeted Jennifer Coffindaffer, a former FBI agent and crime analyst. “She awaits the proof…”
The interview comes days after Simon and her mother were spotted at a trendy Savannah bar taking shots of Patron and flirting with staff, despite the child’s disappearance, according to a New York Post report – where they allegedly ran up a $300 tab as protesters demonstrated outside their home.
MISSING GEORGIA TODDLER QUINTON SIMON LIKELY DEAD; POLICE NAME MOTHER AS ‘PRIME SUSPECT’
Quinton was last seen around 6 a.m. on Oct. 5 near his family’s home on Buckhalter Road in Savannah. Simon reported him missing at 9:40 a.m.
Details of a dispatch call obtained by WJCL shed light on the moments the mother notified police that she could not find her son.
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“Complainant advised her 1-year-old son is missing,” the dispatcher could be heard saying, according to the report. “She woke up, her door was open. Advised he’s unable to open a door. Thinks someone came in and took him.”
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call 912-667-3134.
Fox News’ Rebecca Rosenberg, Brie Stimson and Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.
