Prime Crime: Missing Boy’s Body Found in Georgia Landfill

on Crime Crime. A mother's cry for help over her missing toddler is riddled with unanswered questions. Check me again.

Skye's there. There's not there. It smells like water.

But as investigators peel back the layers of her story, Daniel with the kids at all. Never even violent towards me. The truth begins to unravel.

It's not just any missing child. We're talking about a baby. How could this even be real?

This is stuff you only see on TV. We're going to get to the bottom of this. But you have to be honest.

Hey guys. Hey everybody, I'm Jesse Weber and welcome to Prime Crime, where we break down some of the most compelling and memorable true crime cases from across the country. When a young toddler vanishes from his home, it sparks a desperate search that captures national attention.

And as investigators untangle what happened to little Quinton Simon, suspicion turns closer to home. 911. What's your emergency?

Yeah. I need to go to 535. Oh, when you leave the carnap [Music] kid is empty.

Please. Just after 9 in the morning, October 5th, 2022. 28-year-old Daniel Yncan and his 22-year-old girlfriend, Leilani Simon, call 911 to report her 20-month-old son, Quinton Simon, has disappeared and he's possibly been kidnapped.

There's a call about a missing child here in Chattam County, but it's not just any missing child. We're talking about a baby. Something that's very shocking to the community.

The mother calling that her child had probably been abducted from their home. She explained to them that he was wearing his his Sesame Street blue shirt and black pants and that he had a Mickey Mouse toy with him. We have a signal to say complain of her one-year-old son is missing.

She woke up. Her door was open and he's unable to open a door. one came in at in town.

This prompts a large police response. Police are at the house within 2 minutes and we're talking several police forces. Did you last night or yesterday without a [Music] Detectives first step is to talk oneon-one with Quinton's mom, Leilani.

She volunteers to go to the station to walk them through a timeline of the previous night. We can't imagine the emotion that you're feeling right now. But as difficult as you kind of think back in the last 24 hours from about 1:00 yesterday, please tell me your I went to work and I left because of the amount of pain that I had.

went there and I had them keep the kids. So I told her they're lasting home a little bit longer. All the kids she had all three of them.

October 4th of 2022, which is the day before. They obviously asked her about how that day went, what was going on in her life. And she told police that it was a relatively normal day.

She went to work. The children were with a babysitter. She had a dentist appointment that she went to and she came home.

I went home to show took a nap. We went picked them up. I came up all and I put them down the bed and my mouth was really bothering me about almost 1 in the morning.

I called Circle to see if they had orange. No. So, I got in contact with another one of my friends named Misty.

Not sure if she had any or her up there at the Chevron. I go back home, y'all. So, in 12 minutes, I edited for my wife like 360.

I can show y'all where I'm from. Get home, check out all the kids again. They were all good.

She says that her and Danny had got in a fight that night and she was in pain after going to the dentist. Leilani told police she was going to go meet her friend Misty to go get Orael. She wakes up the next morning and Quinton is gone.

on the bed. I'll be there about 9, almost 9. The front door was tortally open.

That door's never open. I get up. I go shut it.

I don't think enough about it. I just got out of bed. The door is open.

Let me shut the door. And I turn around and check it. Skye's there.

There's not there. So, I searched the house under the bed. I had the couches with the closets and the cabinets outside, inside everywhere.

This is a home where there's multiple points of entry. There's a garage, there's an outdoor pool, there's a front door, there's a den with an entry. Has he ever gotten out of the play before?

He can get up or something. He can't even get his foot up there if he tried. And Paul lives in the house.

That's your mother. Who lives there? Paul.

Paul. Who is Paul? Who's my little brother?

Who's your brother? And then Daniel and me. And Daniel is my sister.

And then um my stepdad, my mom. Tell me about Paul. What does Paul do?

I just got a job with me in the warehouse. Um he's us to take his ass back. She's in the military.

Leilani has three children. She's living with her boyfriend Danny Ynan. They were all living in Leilani's mother's home.

with Leilani's mother, Billy Joe, and stepfather, and also Leilani's brother, Paul. Paul, Danny, and Leilani were all working at a warehouse place, and Billy Joe and her husband worked over the road, so they would be gone for weeks at a time. Paul was at the house when Clinton Yeah.

was missing. Yeah. Where was he?

My brother was upstairs in his room. No indication that he left. He didn't hear the door open.

Nothing. No door opening. The truck didn't even move.

Let's talk about Danny. So, how long have you been dating or have you been engaged? We've been together for almost 2 years.

Engaged for the past year. Has Daniel been violent with the kids at all? Not at all.

No. Never violent towards me. Meanwhile, back at the house, detectives are searching for clues.

I can't stand that. It smells like ramen. When police were searching the house in terms of finding anything suspicious, there wasn't really a lot there.

According to police, there was no signs of forced entry, no signs of a struggle essentially. But in the house, there were stained beds, his stained pack and play around that area. It's kind of a weird mix of neighborhoods and rural and woods and highways.

I mean, it's just a very diverse area. So, they brought the dogs out and the people out and they just started searching. Leilani had told police their front door was open when she woke up, but following a search in and around the home, detectives have little to go on.

They pull out all of the stops. They are searching everywhere. And in the first few days are obviously the most critical and crucial days.

I mean, once 2 or 3 days pass, there's little hope that a child, even if he had innocently wandered off, would still be alive. They're searching everywhere. Canals, woods, they come up empty at every turn.

Authorities rapidly take action, announcing his disappearance via the first of many news conferences. We have yet to locate uh little Quinton. Uh we continue to investigate this incident.

It still remains a missing child. investigation at this point. A lot of work to do.

Our investigators are working extremely hard. We have not had any evidence to lead us to believe foul play, but everything's on the table. Basically, this went to the media almost immediately.

They sought to involve the public. The Chattam County Police Department, they would have a press conference almost every other day updating us on the search for Quinton. And the main theories going around the public was the child was abducted or the child had run away.

But here's the question plaguing investigators. How does a toddler just up and vanish from his home without a trace? I lose my baby.

My baby back home. Do you believe Quinn to still be alive? Still alive?

I hope he's still alive. Uh we don't know. We don't have any information to believe he's not.

We're gonna hold out hope that he's still alive. [Music] After we picked up the kids at 4:30, me or him, none of the kids get one of us. I can better 100%.

They showered, ate, and went to bed. I made two runs or 204. Detectives looking into the mysterious disappearance of toddler Quinton Simon are learning more about his family.

And in turn, by speaking with his mom, Leilani Simon, they learn about her past. Given your mom's situation as relates to her travel and her job and given your situation as it relates to your your mental health, you understand that you're not in a position to to take care of the client at least. So, you feel that she was still the best person for you to have custody to?

Yeah, she she from the time that I first gave that custody to until now. Yeah. No matter what, she hasn't had custody over them for not even a year yet.

Leilani had an interesting past and a family life. Leilani's three children were from three different men. There were a lot of issues with custody.

Leilani had actually already given up custody of Quinton to Billy Joe, Leilani's mom. I'm trying to understand. Yeah, she's away.

She's, you know, maybe out of town for a while, two months at a time. Sometimes three. She got custody, but I was still every day.

I was there every day. Leilani told police that she was the main caretaker of her children. However, a lot of people close to her said that wasn't necessarily true.

the main person being the babysitter of the children. Leilani then reveals something new to investigators, a key detail she initially seemed to hold back. There's some text messages in your phone.

This outline message from you that says turn 204. To be honest with you, I was going to go pay back the $20 for Danny. Daniel, that's who is $20 a week.

Leilani had a history of drug use at this point. She was a convicted felon as well for lararseny. She did tell them that she went to the 204 which was apparently a drugdeing area to meet up with a drug dealer to pay off a debt.

That person goes by just I don't know his name. That was it. That was $20.

Danny said he was a responsible drug addict. You know, he kept the dope out of the way so Quinton couldn't get to it. But the truth of the matter was Danny and the kids and the Lahi all slept in the same room and there was dope there.

But it's just me then. No, just me. Okay.

But you were in sense of use for I had done the things I used to do. Did either Paul or Danny ever have issues with the Paul? I don't think so.

Danny? I don't think so with that either. Drnk beer.

Okay. How often does that happen? He drinks daddy.

How did he last night? Last night he had a six-pack as normal. I think it was a fireball to anything abnormal.

Nothing out of the way of laying down before I was. If there was some violence of any sort, Danny, the other children in the room would have heard it. Paul would have heard it.

If there was something that happened, someone in the house would have heard it. I just want to know. I can 100% tell you that when the FBI and Chad come, we are going to find out what happened.

Investigators notice Leilani's story has a few holes. So, detectives begin asking the hard questions. Is there a chance that no chance at all?

No. When I put him down, nothing. Unless something happened when I was not there and I have no knowledge about He was fine.

When I got home, he was fine. Do you think that Danny may have done something? No.

Um, when I left the house, he was asleep. He was already asleep. No.

There wasn't even physical evidence that she had done something to Quinton. If there was some violence of any sort, either Danny heard it or did it and lied about it. Paul heard it or did it, which I don't believe, or lied about it.

Danny doesn't come with an impatience though. Not like that. Not easily.

Not to where I think that you would finally just get fed up with somebody crying and do something to make them shut up and not realize that they didn't do something too much. I don't want to think that he would do something like that. We see all the time in investigations that the phones are what does people in.

Whether it's the Google searches that they do or the text messages that they send or the triangulation of where the phone is beeping to on the cell towers. That being said, a phone is not attached to a human body. Just because Danny's phone didn't move doesn't mean that Dany himself didn't leave the home.

And so, the way that Dany and also Leilani's brother Paul were ruled out was through the phones. And it's also how Leilani was ruled in. Uh the investigators tracked her to certain locations.

Danny's phone wasn't moving that night, whereas Leilani's did. I would like to say that they thoroughly investigated all leads, but they had already decided basically the angle they were going to take with the investigation. From that day forward, kind of focused on Miss Simon.

Detectives and Leilani part ways, and in the following days, the investigation fades into uncertainty. Without any new leads, detectives find themselves at a standstill. However, investigators aren't giving up, and in turn, several crucial pieces of evidence emerge, which begin pulling this puzzle together.

They start to connect some dots that raise the red flags even higher. People telling the police things like, "Lilani never wanted Quinton. " And I think at that point they turned their suspicions against Leilani.

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And see the app store for details. [Music] You said you wanted to be I don't know where my baby is. Okay.

I don't know. Suspicions mount in the disappearance of 20-month-old Quinton Simon as detectives begin to piece together inconsistencies in the statements from his mother, Leilani Simon, casting doubt on if she's telling the whole truth. The FBI asked Leilani to come in for another round of questioning, only this time, the gloves have come off.

I know you know what happened. I know. I know you know where to find I don't know where he is.

The story that you already told um law enforcement we've already analyzed that your free cell phone data right where you been right there inconsistencies who you talk to. We know you didn't go to the sh that was on your last show. how you did it, but we know where you went.

Investigators look at Leilani's cell phone records, meticulously mapping everywhere she had been the night of October 4th, and there are major discrepancies. We've gone off this story for a while now, and I know it's not true. is we're not [Music] [Applause] progressing.

We're going to get to the bottom of this. But you have to be honest. I'm being honest.

But then the agent confronts Leilani with a gamechanging discovery. We know the video you were not at that chef, but we do know where you're at. I told it was right next to each other.

There's surveillance video that captures Leilani not where she said she was. There is a cell phone tracking on her phone that shows that she wasn't exactly where she said she was. And now all of a sudden Lonnie's story is changing.

When you were in the trailer park, you pulled right back out. Yes. I pulled it out.

So why does video surveillance show you stopping stop in the trailer park? Get in the orange. You're not near the chevron.

No, she lives near. So now instead of being at the chevron station, she was near the chevron station according to her. Law enforcement begins to get really aggressive with her.

Police have seen surveillance footage pinning her Dodge Journey to the Aelia mobile home dumpsters and not at a Chevron that night. At this point, investigators suspect Leilani's story is riddled with lies. Let's talk about that.

Okay. Because Missy had talked to you. Yeah, she has.

She hasn't talked to you in quite some time. Yeah, she actually did not have a conversation with you about the war. Yes.

You haven't been completely honest about where you were at. We've already interviewed this. That did happen.

You haven't saw it. It did not happen. Even though police confront her and say that we talked to Misty and Misty said she hasn't heard from you since July, Leilani is still sticking to the story of seeing Misty.

Saying no, that's impossible. I saw her. You're going to have to talk about what happened.

I'm to anywhere. I didn't take you anywhere. He was at my house.

The only thing I s pos that door on the way. I know you were sitting here thinking about what you were doing. No, I was not.

Something had already happened. No, I was not. That baby was getting out when I went to bed.

Her account was that she woke up and Quinton wasn't there. She said that she went out and the door was open. Initially, Banny said that he looked into the pack and play and saw Quinton when he left for work.

He quickly changed his tune. Danny told us that he can't 100% confirm that he actually saw in. So that that leaves another hole in your story, right?

No, that's why you told me something happened. No, right. No, I did not.

Nothing happened when he was in my care. I did not hurt him. I did not take him anywhere.

Her story is shifting, but obviously the police are now wondering why is her story not adding up. They need to really be focusing on Leilani as a potential suspect here. Potentially because there's still not enough to hold her on any charges.

Leilani is released once again. But law enforcement isn't convinced her statements are true, so they shift to a bold strategy. Why didn't you lie to me about the origin?

I didn't. I did not lie to you about the So you went and met. Yes.

So you went and got I got Danny offers the FBI to have a bug in the hotel that the FBI puts them up at. Investigators know that something happened, but that is not enough. We don't even have, you know, the body.

We don't have a cause of death. We don't have a confession. We only have supposition.

And so the FBI needs something concrete. So what did you do when you left? What did you do?

I went straight up. That's what you did. Yes.

There was nothing else that I did. I came over. I went to bed and I woke up to my baby gone.

Do you understand me? They were in the room for 24 hours and he basically spent most of that time with her in the room trying to get her to admit to doing something to Quinton and she never did. Through the hidden camera, detectives learned something else about Leilani Simon and Daniel Yncan's relationship and possibly her mental state.

the first and only person I'm sitting here walking along and support that I thought would be on my side 100% is on the FBI side and I wanted to be comforted. I wanted to be sat there and told that we're going to do our best. I did not want to see her because the second time in a row by you about 1:00.

Leilani and Danny, her boyfriend, were also having trouble with each other with Leilani feeling neglected by Dany and unloved. It really felt like she had kind of this immeasurable obsession with Dany and his love for her or lack thereof and the need for her to feel like she was with him and that he was with her in return. Danny was just acting in the role of the police and was trying to get her to make some sort of incriminating statement and it didn't work.

And the interesting part about that was the day after the hotel room, Danny left Savannah and never returned. He didn't get what he wanted and he was gone. Detectives initially hoped that by now Quinton would be found safe and unharmed, but the evidence suggests that may not be possible.

Shadow County Police Department and FBI entered a new phase in the search for a short time ago. We began what will be an extensive search of the waste management landfill located here. While police are interviewing Leilani, unbeknownst to her, there's several other agencies gathering warrants, searching the house, searching for any type of evidence that could possibly lead this case away from an abduction case and turn it into a homicide investigation.

evidence debunked her alibi of meeting up with Misty and going to the Chevron, ultimately pinning her as the main suspect. With their many questions unanswered, investigators hope they're on a path towards justice for little Quinton Simon. But a key piece of evidence is still missing.

Quinton himself. At what point did you realize the smell was so bad that you should stop at the dumpster? It was before I even fall out of the house.

[Music] I couldn't do nothing for nothing that happened that I can remember. Nearly a week after Quinton's disappearance, Leilani Simon is brought in to talk again with investigators. When asked about being at the Aelia Mobile Home Park, she finally reveals why she was seen at the dumpsters.

But is it the truth? So you went to house and she goes inside her house. She was just standing outside.

How long did y'all two [Music] minutes off a few days ago and there was spoiled food for like shrimp pasta? Yeah. the whole person.

There's an amazing moment when she's confronted by detectives. Law enforcement says to her, "What did you do when you looked inside the bag? " And she's floored in this moment.

Yeah. Do you think that that's something that people do is look for something trash to open it up and look at it and see what they're about. Despite her story now seeming to be more consistent.

Later in the same interview, Leilani makes a startling admission. understand. I'm sorry.

This is where she admits that the origel story wasn't true, that she never met Misty, that all of these things were just theories that were clouded by her drug use. Lani allegedly left the house around 1:00 and made the trip to the trailer park, which quite frankly could be both a drug deal or or a jail pickup. There were five tubes of origel found in the house.

Some were old, some were new. Little by little, Leilani Simon reveals more and more about the night of October 4th, including key evidence, which furthers detectives growing suspicions that she's been lying the whole time. I didn't want to put my understand.

You did? I did. Now, you know, she met the drug dealer not to pay off a debt, but to buy Percoet pills.

She's trying to fit her story or her narrative into the evidence that the police uncovered that she can't really get around. Initially, she lied about going to see the drug dealer. Imagine that, someone lying about going to see a drug dealer, but eventually told the truth about that.

The evening before she had left to go see the drug dealer around 9 or so. She stopped at a convenience store, got an energy drink or something, went out, bought the dope, came back. Danny was still awake.

They literally used the discrepancies in the story that she said the first time and the second time to try and concoct this theory and make it work. As the focus begins to narrow on Leilani, she makes a plea of her own on the local news. All we want is justice for Queen's life.

We love you, baby, my little But the community is frustrated with the investigation, leading to growing protests outside Leilani's home, where she's barricaded herself inside. They have to have a permit to be here. We're definitely following the law as is written.

were following the laws under Georgia. When police announced that this became a homicide investigation, that's when the public also really started to hone in on Leilani. For example, there were protests outside her house.

Four people were ultimately arrested. Days later, investigators talk to Leilani once more and she makes a potentially incriminating admission. when you get high or whatever you start as they said I didn't know delusions in your own mind you lose touch of reality you end up doing things like you don't even remember I don't remember she finally opens up a little bit more about her drug use and so instead of just completely denying any of it she's explaining how she might have been under extreme extreme effects of drugs that evening.

If anything happened to Quinton that night, it wasn't because she ever intended to do anything wrong to Quinton, that it would have been an accident. In November 2022, Leilani Simon is arrested and charged in connection with Quinton's disappearance and suspected murder. This afternoon, Chattam County Police Department detectives arrested 22-year-old Lani Simon and charged her with malice murder.

concealing the death of another person, false reporting, and making false statements in connection with the disappearance and death of her son, 20-month-old Quinton Simon. On Friday, our search teams at the Waste Management landfill found what they believed were human remains. Additional testing, including a DNA analysis, is being conducted, and we have every reason to believe that this will confirm the remains are Quinton's.

I think the major break in the case was the video surveillance pinning her Dodge Journey to the Aelia mobile home dumpsters. Those dumpsters empty out into the landfill where Quinton's remains were found. But because of the state that Quinton's remains were found in, it was nearly impossible for medical experts to determine a cause of death.

With Quinton Simon's remains now found and his own mother, Leilani Simon, behind bars, prosecutors face an uphill battle as they now need to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Leilani is the one responsible. There was no evidence of murder. There was no evidence that she strangled the child, she hit the child, she beat the child.

If you're going to put the M-word out there, then you're going to have to prove it. By the way, did you see us plug in Leilani Simon into Truthfinder, the powerful background checker that we use to do research on our stories here on Law and Crime? You want to talk about a useful resource?

You can plug in a name and you can get address information, criminal history, and let me just say, this can give you some peace of mind. Truthfinder is one of the largest public record search services in the United States. And with a paid subscription service, you can get access to unlimited reports about almost anyone.

And that includes, by the way, looking up registered sex offenders in your area, too. So, if you're interested, you can get 50% off of confidential background reports right now. Just go to truthfinder.

com/lcprimecrime. [Music] Ultimately, there were three individuals in in that house, three adults in that house. And of those three adults, there was only one that continued to lie to us throughout the course of the investigation.

Almost 2 years to the day after Quinton Simon's death in October 2024, his mother, Leilani Simon, goes on trial, charged with malice murder, concealing a death, making false statements, and more than a dozen others. facing life in prison if convicted. This is quite sad.

Like all children, he was blameless. He was innocent and he was beautiful. Totally and completely dependent on the adults in his life to take care of him and to look out for his safety.

The defendant violated that trust, that most basic sacred trust of a parent. In the middle of the night, she killed him, her own son, got in her car with his body, drove to a dumpster, and threw him away like a piece of trash. The prosecution always has to prove every element of every charge, but they don't have to prove her motive.

They don't have to tell a jury why she did what she did. That being said, juries are always extremely eager to know why. Why would somebody actually do this?

How could somebody kill their own child? The evidence will show that her specific intent from the outset was that he never be found at all. And him being found in pieces, little bitty pieces was the next best thing.

They also have to prove her state of mind in a lot of ways, what her intentions were. The prosecution was kind of trying to paint Leilani as somebody with very low self-esteem who really required the attention from the men in her life. And the prosecution was able to show that because Leilani had made what they were calling a video back in August of 2022.

So only a couple of months before this incident. I don't hear the love in your voice anymore. I don't feel the love in your touch anymore.

You couldn't hear me. You couldn't love me. You couldn't do me right.

So please, for the love of God, do my kids right. I can't do it at the river now. The most important thing in Leilani Simon's life at the time was her relationship with Daniel Yncan, which was on the rocks, showcased through what the prosecution called a digital note.

It showed how emotionally distraught she was that Danny didn't love her. And with her becoming a grieving mother, this was her way of winning Danny back. To highlight the inconsistencies in Leilani's previous statements made to police, the state calls on several witnesses from law enforcement.

What is that red thing towards the bottom center of the picture? That's a Mickey Mouse race car driver toy. Was this significant to you at the time?

It was. And why is that? Because Leilani had reported Quinton missing with his favorite toy, a Mickey Mouse toy.

to Daniel Yncan. Was there a period of time where you told the police that you had seen him that morning? Yes, sir.

Are you sure now that you didn't see him? I didn't look. What is it about that question in particular that makes you upset?

Just I wish I lung. and her former co-workers. Do you have any nicknames that you go by?

Yep. What What nickname or nicknames do you have? Missy.

Missy. Missy. M I S S Y.

Exactly. Anybody ever call you Misty with a T? No.

This friend that Leilani keeps talking about. The friend that she went to get Orael from. She says Misty is the name of the friend.

Although the friend goes by Missy and so there's a little bit of an inconsistency with the name there. To Leilani's former neighbors. Your husband videotaped the seance.

Correct. He did. The BS from people who had no idea what they were talking about or what was going on, but it sure didn't stop him from talking.

There was the one who had a seance with Quinton's ghost. the fact that I had to entertain that during the course of the trial. There was a strange cast of characters that we had to deal with.

You said that Quinton Simon spoke to you through a candle. He spoke to me through images. Okay.

Okay. When I was in my trance, so he was a 15-month-old ghost speaking to you. Please tell me about this.

I would love to hear. He said, "Mommy hurt me. " I asked him, "How did she hurt you?

" And he told me, "She hit me in the head really hard. " I said, "Okay. " I was like, "What else?

" And he I said, "Did you, you know, get any candy? " Thinking maybe he got into drugs or something. And he said, "No.

" There was no DNA showing that Leilani was the murderer. There was no murder weapon. There was no cause of death.

So, we don't even know how this this child died. The DNA that was elicited in this case merely served to confirm that this was in fact Quentyn's body. If you show me evidence that a murder was committed, then I'll believe a murder was committed.

But until that, you don't get to assume someone into a murder conviction. You don't get to speculate. And this case from the get-go was exactly that.

The defense argues there are other explanations for what happened to Quinton and thus there's reasonable doubt. This whole case is about rumor, gossip, speculation, and innuendo and ultimately the state's bold conclusions about what they say happened but can't prove. Bunch of conclusions, bunch of declarations, unsupported by actual evidence.

Leilani kind of did point her finger at Danny to investigators. She sent a text message to them saying, "I don't want to lie for him anymore. " And then explaining to detectives that Dany was the one who came up with the whole Oriel story and told her to stick with it.

It would explain why Leilani was so married to that origel story even though it made no sense. They wanted to make this a murder. There's no evidence of that at all, which is kind of a big deal in a murder case.

The state strategy and the way it's presented this case has been basically to tell you that Miss Simon was a slut, a party girl, someone who lies, a horrible mother. All of these things could be true more or less to some extent, but none of these things have anything to do with the central question in this case. And they still haven't answered that question with evidence, not speculation.

The central question in this case is how did Quinton Simon die? Was it an accident? Was it a murder?

What was it? They really don't have any idea about any of these things. They just have their best guess.

Was there evidence of concealing a death? Sure, I can see that. Was there evidence of making a false statement to the police?

Sure, I can see that, too. Looking at the evidence fairly and objectively, I think the kid got into the dope. There's no evidence it was a homicide.

There's no evidence that it was murder. None. Zero.

Zilch. There never will be. You cannot speculate someone into a guilty verdict.

This was potentially a winnable case by the defense. There are alternative theories that still comply and comport with the evidence that was collected. Danny Yncan is reasonable doubt.

He is the alternative theory here. Leilani could not tell anybody what happened that night because she was high and Danny lied to police. Daniel Yncan's story changed once.

I mean, it's obviously incomparable to how many times her story changed, but Daniel Yncan originally reported that he did see Quinton in his play pen and later admitted to saying that he didn't check and therefore didn't see him. It was also sort of suspicious that he left town immediately after, but even then, he was still in constant contact with law enforcement in Chattam County. That's what the prosecution has to overcome.

They have to be able to say that there's no alternative theory. The actual evidence hasn't changed. There's actually no evidence that she ever laid a finger on that child to harm that child.

It's a bunch of people with a bunch of opinions, but opinions are not evidence. The case is sent off to the jury and Leilani's fate is revealed after 6 hours of deliberations. Have you reached a verdict?

Yes, we have. Was it unanimous? Yes, it was.

We the jury find as follows. Malice murder. We find the defendant guilty.

Count two, felony murder. We find the defendant guilty. Leilani Simon is found guilty on all 19 counts in the murder of her 20-month-old son, Quinton.

Clearly, Lil Quinton Simon's life and death impacted many, many individuals, but also the community at large. May there be peace somehow. Leilani Marie Simon, the court sentences you as follows.

Life with the possibility of parole. Listen. Leilani Simon is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole plus 10 years.

The only sentence Judge Stokes could have given her was either life with parole or life without parole. And she gave her life with parole. That signals to me one of two things.

one, the sentencing phase went really well and she felt that she was possible to be rehabilitated, or two, she had the same questions in her mind about the proof that we did. The Leilani Simon trial is a script that a Hollywood producer couldn't even write. You know, you have the handsome prosecutor.

You have the good cop, bad cop dynamic of Leilani Simon's defense attorneys. And then in the middle of it, you have a stoic, quiet, and homely looking woman who almost didn't even shed a tear. As a former prosecutor myself, and also as a mother, I wish that these cases were more unusual than they are.

I think about my children every second of every day, and I try to provide for them in every possible way. And I think most mothers do. And so when you see a situation like this, it's jarring and it's horrific and you want so badly to understand why and how and where this all started and why it ended in this way.

And I do think that there are some unanswered questions. Whether this was a murder or an accidental death, it should never have happened. It simply should never have happened.

and Quinton should still be alive today. The murder of Quinton Simon is just a heartbreaking reminder of the fragility of innocence and the darkness that lurks where a child should feel the safest. His short life that was filled with wonder of exploring his new world that was cruy stolen.

May his story ignite a call for vigilance and the protection of the most vulnerable. It's all we have for you here on this episode of Prime Crime. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us.

I'm Jesse Weber and as always, stay safe.