Leilani Simon files amended motion for new trial

Editor’s note: The above video is from previous coverage of the Quinton Simon case.

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Leilani Simon has filed an amended motion for a new trial, just short of a year after being convicted of murdering her toddler.

Last October, Simon was found guilty of murdering her son, Quinton Simon, and concealing his death by disposing of his body in a dumpster. Quinton was first reported missing on October 5, 2022, and his remains were recovered by law enforcement five weeks later in a Chatham County landfill.

Simon was subsequently arrested and charged in a 19 count indictment, which included malice murder and felony murder charges, concealing the death of another, and multiple charges of making a false statement. A jury convicted her on all counts in the indictment on October 25, 2024. She was later sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors presented a variety of evidence against Simon, including digital data and video evidence that put Simon at the dumpster Quinton’s remains were dumped in in the early morning hours of October 5th.

Prosecutors also presented evidence that showed Simon’s mental state around the time Quinton disappeared, including a video in which she threatened suicide, and text messages that showed she was having a sexual relationship with her drug dealer.

Absent from the trial was any evidence of how Quinton died. Experts testified that his remains were too damaged when they were recovered to definitively determine a cause of death. Simon’s defense honed in on this during cross-examinations, seeming to make a case that Quinton may have died accidentally.

In her motion for a new trial, Simon’s defense contends her conviction is “contrary to the evidence and without evidence to support it,” and that Judge Tammy Stokes should’ve directed a verdict of acquittal. The motion also claims that the introduction of evidence of Simon’s relationship with her drug dealer brought unfair prejudice against Simon that “substantially outweighed any probative value.”

Simon is currently serving her sentence at Pulaski State Prison. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for January 9.