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Mom of missing Savannah toddler charged with his murder

By Emily Shapiro, ABC News Nov 21, 2022 | 6:56 PM


Chatham County Police Department/Facebook

(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — The mother of missing Savannah, Georgia, toddler Quinton Simon has been charged with his murder after remains were found at a landfill, police announced Monday.

Leilani Simon, 22, reported her 20-month-old son missing on Oct. 5. One week later, Chatham County police said they believed Quinton was dead and authorities named the boy’s mother as the primary suspect.

Simon has been charged with malice murder, concealing the death of another person, false reporting and making false statements, according to Chatham County police.

Police said they don’t anticipate any other arrests besides Simon.

On Oct. 18, police said they believed Quinton had been left in a dumpster, and authorities announced that a search was underway for his body in the local landfill.

Searchers spent 30 days scouring 1.2 million pounds of trash, police said.

Searchers found remains at the landfill on Friday, police said, and testing is now underway to determine whether the remains belong to Quinton.

“The working conditions were grueling and hazardous, and searchers knew that the chances of finding Quinton were low,” police said in a statement. “Historically, the FBI says landfill searches are only successful 5% of the time.”

“We are indebted to the many law enforcement and public service agencies who assisted with this search,” Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said.

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