On the fourth day of the trial of the Savannah mother charged with murdering her toddler son, Quinton Simon, witnesses testify to past abuse and refute Leilani Simon's statements to police.
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Leilani Simon Trial: Quinton Simon's babysitter testifies she saw his mother abuse him
Leilani Simon, the Savannah mother on trial for murdering her 20-month-old son, Quinton Simon, and disposing his body in a dumpster in October 2022, told investigators that she had driven to a Chevron on the night she last saw her son to borrow Orajel from a friend. That friend, Melissa "Missy" Bray, testified in court on Thursday that she never gave Orajel to Leilani and had not seen her former co-worker since around July 2022, when Leilani borrowed a gas can, which she never returned.
Bray's testimony was one of the most damning among the several witnesses called by Chatham County prosecutors on the fourth day of the trial, which began with Leilani Simon’s defense attorney, Martin Hilliard, cross-examining Daniel Youngkin, Simon’s then-boyfriend, about his drug use, text messages between him and Leilani, and his relationship with her three children, one of whom is Youngkin's child. At one point, Hilliard asked Youngkin why he didn’t leave the relationship if Simon treated him as poorly as he testified on Wednesday, emphasizing that Youngkin had free will.
The prosecution then called on David Mullen, a former facility manager at
Eclipse Advantage, a third-party labor contractor that Leilani, her brother Paul Simon and Youngkin worked at before Quinton’s reported disappearance. Mullen testified to Youngkin and Leilani’s time cards, which were provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He testified that Leilani did not come into work on the day of Quinton’s disappearance, and Youngkin left early, running out of the warehouse when he received Leilani’s call that Quinton was missing.
The next two witnesses spoke to Leilani’s alleged poor treatment of Quinton.
Melanie Boling testified that she met Simon when they were neighbors living in Glennville, GA, before the latter had any children. At first, Boling, a teen mother herself, saw Leilani akin to a little sister. But when Leilani had children and moved away, their relationship changed. They spoke less, and when they did speak, Leilani would threaten Quinton, testified Boling.
During cross-examination, Hilliard asked about a meeting Boling had with
Chatham County Special Assistant District Attorney (ADA) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Dean in August 2024. In that meeting, Boling admitted to a séance she said she had with Quinton’s ghost, which told her he was in a landfill. Boling claimed that the séance occurred in October or November 2022, before Quinton’s remains were discovered in the landfill.
In the last testimony of the day, a 17-year-old babysitter testified to three incidents where Leilani allegedly abused Quinton. The babysitter testified that Leilani pushed Quinton from behind into a pool without a flotation device, back-hand slapped him after he ran into the street without supervision, and pushed him after he broke Leilani’s brother’s PlayStation controller.
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Told her where to find him. What a lie!!! Does she really expect people to believe that?. Or does she want people to think she's insane?.