Accused murderer Leilani Simon, who’s currently behind bars in connection with the death of her son, Quinton Simon, apparently checked herself into a treatment center prior to her arrest.
According to a family friend (who wants to remain unnamed), 22-year-old Simon checked herself into a rehabilitation center just weeks after her son’s death. On Monday, she checked herself out of the center, spurring her mother, Billie Jo Howell, to take action.
On October 5, Simon reported 1-year-old Quinton missing, claiming she last saw him at around 6 a.m. that morning. On Monday, police found the boy’s body in a Georgia landfill, and allege that Simon put Quinton in a dumpster following his death, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Quinton’s manner of death has not yet been determined and a local lab is working to positively identify the body.
The friend told WOTC 11 that Howell decided to contact authorities after Simon signed herself out of rehab. Howell herself was too upset to explain the details to the news station.
“Her mother had to make one of the hardest decisions of her life, and call the FBI agents and let them know that she was signing herself out, and that she could not come back here, and that she was going to be a flight risk, because she could not come back here because she was going to be back on the streets doing God knows what with God knows who,” the friend said.
The friend added on the advice of the FBI, Howell picked Leilani up from the treatment center and spent several hours with her before taking her to the Savannah FBI Office.
“They asked her to buy some time. So, she went and picked up Leilani’s belongings from another center, and then she took Leilani to have her last free meal,” the friend added.
Quinton’s Disappearance and Death
After weeks of searching and investigating, police announced last month that they believed Quinton’s body would be found in a landfill outside Savannah and that his mother was the sole suspect in his death.
“We believe he was placed in a specific dumpster at a specific location,” Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley previously said. “I have every belief that we will find his remains here at the landfill.”
Since then, law enforcement officials have been scouring the landfill and ultimately found his body on Monday.
Police initially thought they wouldn’t be able to find Quinton.
“We knew going into this landfill search, the odds of recovering Quinton’s remains were low,” police said earlier this month. “Most landfill searches do not end in a recovery due to many factors including volume of trash to search and compression of the debris, however, we stay focused.”
Along with murder, Simon is facing concealing the death of another, making false statements, and making a false crime report charges. She remains behind bars without bail.
“We want justice served for this precious baby, no matter what it is, no matter who it is,” the friend said. “At the end of the day, all the protesters and the family all wanted the same thing.”
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[Featured Image: Leilani and Quinton Simon/Instagram; Handout]
