A Georgia mom accused of killing her toddler son and ditching his body in a dumpster told cops she was just tossing "stinky shrimp pasta," according to prosecutors.
Leilani Simon, of Savannah, Georgia, stands accused of 19 charges, including malice murder, falsely reporting a crime, concealing a death and lying to investigators in connection with the death of her 20-month-old son, Quinton Simon, according to the Savannah Morning News.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges after Quinton's body was found in a landfill, two weeks after she reported him missing in October 2022.
During opening statements Monday, prosecutors alleged Simon lied to investigators about dumping Quinton's remains, instead claiming she was getting rid of spoiled pasta.
"The evidence will show that she did not want to admit that [what she threw away] was Quinton's body, so she describes this trash that she threw away as stinky shrimp pasta," Special Assistant District Attorney Tim Dean told the court, according to The Mirror.
"Yeah, I did throw away trash," Simon could be heard telling a detective in a recorded police interview played for the jury, per the outlet. "There was spoiled food smelling in my car so when I pulled around and seen that (dumpster), yeah, I stopped and threw the trash away. It was spoiled. Spoiled like shrimp pasta. The whole car smelled like shrimp. I was like, 'What is that smell?' I looked, and I threw it away. I didn't think anything of it to be honest, it's just old food."
In the time leading up to Quinton's death, the prosecution claimed Simon was getting high off of cocaine and Percocet while involved in a rocky relationship with her then-boyfriend. She also showed animosity toward the toddler, compared to her two other children.
"She treated Quinton differently, and not in a good way," Dean alleged, according to WTOC-TV.
It's unclear how Quinton died due to the level of decomposition his body was in when it was recovered, said prosecutors.
"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," added Dean.
The defense argued there's not enough evidence to prove Simon was the killer.
"This case can't be decided based on emotion," her attorney, Robert Persse, said, the Morning News reported. "It has to be decided based on facts and evidence provided in this courtroom."
Testimony from police and Quinton's babysitter are expected Tuesday as Simon's trial continues.
