Both the prosecution and the defense in the case of a Georgia mother accused of killing her toddler son rested their cases on Wednesday, with the mother herself briefly taking the stand to tell the court she was refusing to testify.

Chatham County Superior Court Judge Tammy Stokes sent the jury out of the courtroom to hear arguments on the defense’s motion for a summary acquittal and came down on the side of the state.

Lelani Simon is accused of killing her 20-month-old son, Quinton Simon, in 2022, and tossing his body into a dumpster, as CrimeOnline reported. The child’s remains were found six weeks later in a Chatham County landfill.

Eight days of testimony came to a close on Wednesday with the testimony of law enforcement scientists who examined the remains and Chatham County Police Department Detective Marian Lemmon, who testified to Simon’s ever-changing stories to detectives investigating her son’s disappearance, the Savannah Morning News reported.

With the close of Lemmon’s testimony, the prosecution rested its case, and Simon’s attorney, Robert Persse, immediately moved for a directed verdict of acquittal, arguing that the state’s case was based solely on circumstantial evidence and could not be supported, the Morning News said.

“The State’s evidence is ground in speculation and grave suspicion but not on facts and not on evidence,” said Persse.

Chatham County Special Assistant District Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Dean argued the opposite, and Stokes agreed.

With the jury still out of the room, Simon took the stand to say that she understood her right to testify or not and that she would not testify, WJCL reported. With that, the defense rested its case without examining a single witness.

The trial resumes Thursday morning.

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[Featured image: Quinton Simon/Chatham County Police Department]