The mother of Quinton Simon, the 20-month-old Georgia boy who vanished last month, has been charged with his disappearance and murder, police announced Monday.
“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, in announcing the arrest of Leilani Simon, 22.
The CCPD previously announced their belief that Quinton was deceased. They also confirmed Simon was their prime suspect.
Police said the mom-of-three is being brought to the Chatham County Detention Center while waiting for her bond hearing.
“We do not anticipate any other arrests in connection with this case,” police said.
Simon first reported her son missing at 9 a.m. the morning of October 5. He was reportedly last seen at the Savannah home she shared with her boyfriend, her 3-year-old son, and her mom — 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.
The 911 call, however, came a few hours after Simon texted Quinton’s 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 in nature, shortly after Simon’s mother allegedly told police that she did not trust her daughter.
“She hasn’t always done the right thing,” Billie Jo Howell admitted in an interview.
Law enforcement had brought search dogs to the family’s home, where they scoured the interior as well as the outdoor pool and nearby pond. The FBI was also on the scene.
Police then spent almost a month combing through a local landfill in a task they described as “massive – yet, painstaking,” in the hope of finding Quinton’s remains. No information has been released on whether they were eventually successful in locating any part of the toddler’s body.
Quinton’s father Henry Moss, 24, has previously said he hadn’t heard from Leilani in months but warned police 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,” Moss added.
Chatham police said more details on Simon’s arrest would be released soon.