On Monday, police announced that Leilani Simon, the mother of Quinton Simon, the 20-month-old Georgia boy who vanished last month, has been charged with his disappearance and murder.
“We are deeply saddened by this case, but we are thankful that we are one step closer to justice for little Quinton,” the Chatham County Police Department tweeted, also announcing the arrest of the 22-year-old mother.
The CCPD had previously said they believed that Quinton was deceased and confirmed Simon was their prime suspect.
Simon is being brought to the Chatham County Detention Center while awaiting her bond hearing, Police said adding, “We do not anticipate any other arrests in connection with this case.”
Simon first reported her son missing at 9 a.m. on October 5. He was reportedly last seen at the home she shared with her boyfriend in Savannah. Along with her boyfriend, she lived with her 3-year-old son and her mother who had custody of both children.
“Since that time, millions of people have followed Quinton’s case and have been awaiting answers,” police tweeted Monday.
Simon allegedly told dispatchers she believed someone took her son from his playpen before 9 a.m. when she woke up to an open door.
However, that 911 call came a few hours after Simon texted her children’s usual babysitter, Diana McCarta, to cancel plans for the day.
“I got a text this morning saying they would not be here — would not be babysitting them at 5:29 [a.m.]. Which was kind of odd because I have them even when she doesn’t work,” McCarta told WSAV.
The investigation into Quinton’s disappearance quickly became criminal after Quinton’s grandmother allegedly told police she didn’t trust her daughter.
“She hasn’t always done the right thing,” Billie Jo Howell admitted in an interview.
Law enforcement scoured the interior of the family home as well as the outdoor pool and nearby pond, bringing search dogs to assist. The FBI was also on the scene.
Police spent nearly a month searching a local landfill, which they described as “massive, yet painstaking,” in the hope of finding Quinton’s remains. It is currently unknown if they were successful in locating all or part of the toddler’s body.
Quinton’s father Henry Moss, 24, has previously said he hadn’t heard from Leilani in months, warning police that she was not a good mother.
“She’s a terrible person and she’s going to jail, or hell. She’s evil. She shouldn’t be here out in society,” he told the Daily Mail. “If she didn’t want him, she could have told me. I would have come and got him.”
Chatham police said more details on Simon’s arrest would be released soon.
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