Mom accused of killing toddler son and throwing him in trash whines about jail life: ‘They took away the color pencils’
Simon claims the state forced her into a ‘suicide cell’ despite her never having voiced a desire to kill herself
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A Georgia mother charged with killing her 1-year-old son and dumping his body in the trash has complained about her jail conditions, including the lack of television time she's allowed.
Leilani Simon, 24, gave an interview to the New York Post moaning about the difficulties of jail ahead of her murder trial.
“There is no privacy even in our cells [because there is a] camera, there is no clock, the lights are on 24/7, and they took away the color pencils,” she told the newspaper.
She then grumbled that the inmates were "only allowed [TV and recreational time] for a total of two hours each week," and that they have "nothing to do in our cells beyond reading and tablet use," noting that both cost money.
Simon also complained that inmates went to bed hungry "every night" because dinner is served between 3-4pm daily.
She was arrested in November 2022 and charged with the death of her son, Quinton Simon. Her charges include murder, concealing a death, falsely reporting a crime, and another 14 counts of lying to investigators.
Police became aware of her after she called 911 on 5 October to report her son missing from their home in Savannah.
Shortly after the boy was reported missing, Chatham County police began following a lead focused on a dumpster at the Azalea Mobile Home park where Simon and her son lived.
Once they began to suspect the boy had been placed in a dumpster, police named Simon as their primary suspect and on 18 October, with the help of federal investigators, began searching a local landfill for the boy's remains.
Police eventually found the boy's partial remains on 18 November.
Prosecutors allege that Simon beat her son with an object, causing "cruel and excessive pain" that led to the child's death.
Simon told the New York Post that she doesn't have the same "privileges" as the other women in protective custody in jail, she is being held in a medical wing.
"In medical we – myself and the other high profile PC females – have very little to help pass by time," she told the paper.
She accused the state of "punishing me for crimes I'm accused of having committed," claiming that she was put into a "suicide cell" even though she had not expressed any desire to end her own life.
“They had me in that cell for nine days and didn’t let me out until my mom went on the news about it,” Simon told the paper.
She said that most of the corrections officers are "very professional," but noted that others "treat us like we are guilty until proven innocent instead of the other way around."
Simon is still waiting for her trial to begin but hopes that she will see her day in court before the end of 2024.