The trial of a Georgia mom accused of killing her toddler son got under way in Savannah Monday with opening statements.

Prosecutors laid out the disappearance, death, and discovery of the body of 22-month-old Quinton Simon, saying his mother, Leilani Simon, had “a tumultuous relationship” with the boy, WJCL reported.

“Treated him differently and not in a good way,” Special Assistant District Attorney Tim Dean said.

Simon was arraigned more than a year ago on 19 counts related to the boy’s death and disappearance. She was arrested on November 21, 2022, six weeks after she reported Quinton missing and three days after his body was found in a Chatham County landfill, as CrimeOnline reported.

Dean told the court in his nearly two-hour statement that Simon put Quinton’s body in a remote dumpster, traveled back to her home, and fell asleep, the Savannah Morning News said. When she woke up, he said, she reported him missing.

“What I will not expect you to hear is exactly how the defendant killed Quinton,” said Dean. “That’s because she covered it up. Because she got rid of the body. 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 was the next best thing. The judge will tell you that, in a case like this, we do not have to prove exactly how the defendant killed Quinton … what we have to prove is not exactly how she killed him, but that she killed him, the fact that she did it.”

Defense attorney Robert Persse responded in a five-minute statement that prosecutors have nothing more than “rumor, gossip, speculation and innuendo.”

The first witnesses on the stand on Monday were law enforcement officers who took part in the lengthy search for Quinton. Yujean Foster, a former Chatham County Police lieutenant, testified that Simon first told police she never left her home on the night Quinton disappeared, then later said she’d gone to get Orajel for a tooth extraction she’d had the day before.

Then, Foster said, Simon changed the story again, saying she’d driven to a remote dumpster to throw away “spoiled shrimp pasta.”

The trial continues. Simon has pleaded not guilty.

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[Featured image: Leilani Simon, left, and Quinton Simon/Chatham County Police Department]