Leilani Simon’s attorney files motions to suppress statements to police
This column is part of a weekly round-up of notable grand jury indictments and court decisions, following through on cases reported by Savannah Morning News public safety and courts reporter Drew Favakeh. If there are cases you’re curious about, email Drew at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.
attorney for Leilani Simon files 13 motions to suppress statements
On Sept. 5, public defender Bob Attridge submitted 13 motions to suppress filings in the case against Leilani Simon, the mother charged with murdering her 20-month-old son, Quinton Simon in October 2022.
Attridge has requested the state suppress multiple statements obtained by Chatham County Police Department officers and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents on Oct. 5, Oct. 8, Oct. 12, and Oct. 31, 2022. Those statements, Attridge contends her statements came as “a result of an unlawful detention of the defendant and should be suppressed.”
Attridge’s motion also contends that “Any statement made by the Defendant was involuntary and induced by the slightest hope of benefit and/or remote fear of injury, contrary to O.C.G.A 24-8-824.”
Leilani Simon reported Quinton Simon missing to CCPD by Leilani on Oct. 5, 2022. On Oct. 12, 2022, CCPD named Leilani as the prime suspect in Quinton’s disappearance. On Oct. 18, 2022, CCPD and the FBI started searching the Chatham County landfill, and a multi-agency team of investigators found the toddler’s partial remains at the landfill on Nov. 18. CCPD arrested Leilani, 22, three days later, and charged her with malice murder, concealing the death of another, making a false report and making false statements in connection with the disappearance of her son.
In addition to requesting the suppression of the statements, Attridge requested a Jackson-Denno hearing prior to trial, whereby the judge would make the determination whether the confession or statement(s) can be admitted as evidence.
Last week’s column:Woman indicted for first-degree vehicular homicide in death of motorcyclist
Court Updates:Parents plead not guilty in death of 16-month-old daughter
Jury finds Janet Gardener guilty of second-degree murder in 10-month-old son’s death
On Monday, a jury found Janet Gardener guilty of murder in the second degree and cruelty to children in the second degree for the death of her 10-month-old son in 2017. The jury found Gardener not guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery.
In a December 2018 indictment, prosecutors charged Gardener with causing the death of her 10-month-old son, Dayton Flenoy, in her Argyle Road residence on Nov. 12, 2017.
Closing arguments by the assistant district attorney and the public defender in the two-week long trial were heard late into Friday night.
In his hour-long closing argument, Timothy Dean, the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, argued that Gardener was “overwhelmed” both by long work hours and caring for her mother, who had a mental disability. As a result, Dean argued, Gardener shook her son to death and that Flenoy could not have died falling off the bed as Gardener maintained.
“This is overwhelming, there is no reasonable doubt here whatsoever,” said Dean. “All these people from day one went from a sensible instinct to an inevitable conclusion as the evidence rolled in.”
Meanwhile, Dean argued that the doctors who the defense subpoenaed weren’t experts and largely testified in cases to make money.
“This boy did not have a stroke,” said Dean. “He got shaken, he got slammed, he got beat up.”
Gardner’s public defender, Kaitlyn Walker, argued that all charges against her client should be dropped.
Walker claimed that a Savannah Police detective recorded Gardner without notifying her that she was doing so shortly after the death of Flenoy, outside of her Argyle Road residence. Walker also claimed the police detective working the case told her that she wasn’t sure whether she could record an autopsy.
“I am asking you to do the thing the police did not do, which is listen to Janet Gardener,” said Walker, who called Gardener the only “substantially consistent witness” in the case.
Citing the doctors’ testimony, Walker said Flenoy’s injuries were caused by the fall off the bed and the emergency resuscitation before he was transported to the hospital, not being shaken or slammed, as Dean argued.
A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.
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