Day 5 of Leilani Simon murder trial

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – Witness testimony continues Friday in the Leilani Simon murder trial.

Simon is accused of killing her 20-month-old son, Quinton , in October 2022. She allegedly beat him to death and threw away his body in a dumpster.

Police later found his body in a landfill.

It was an eventful day in the courtroom Thursday with the jury hearing from seven witnesses. The day started with the cross-examination of Danny Youngkin, Leilani Simon’s boyfriend at the time.

The jury also heard from some of Leilani Simon’s acquaintances, brother and former friends, one who said she conducted a seance and spoke with Quinton’s ghost.

Meanwhile, text messages that were previously denied by Judge Tammy Stokes were admitted into evidence. The explicit messages are between Leilani Simon and Craig, a drug dealer she slept with, according to the state.

“It’s a little salacious, but it’s the facts of the case, the case that she created,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Dean said. “I mean, I didn’t write these messages. I didn’t go visit Craig. This is the evidence.”

Friday is expected to continue with more witness testimony. Coverage is set to begin again at 9:30 a.m.

WSAV will bring you complete coverage.

LIVE BLOG

The live recording is on a 30-minute delay, per a court order. WSAV’s time stamps for Leilani Simon’s trial are set in the time of watching the recording, not as it happened in the courtroom. Please consider this difference when watching the live recording and reading the updates. Graphic content is possible.

9:43 a.m. – Before the jurors were brought in the prosecution brought up that Leilani Simon was caught mouthing statements toward the camera that some of the testimony being delivered the previous day was a lie.

9:49 a.m. – Jurors have been seated and day 5 of the trial is underway.

9:50 a.m. – The State has called Michelle McCarta, mother of Talea McCarta who testified Thursday. McCarta is a neighbor of Leilani Simon who would frequently watch both Zane and Quinton.

10:05 a.m. – McCarta’s testimony describes a pattern of Leilani frequently leaving the children with her or her daughter for an extended period. She would even leave the children with them when not working or going to purchase drugs.

10:10 a.m. – The defense is now questioning Michelle McCarta.

10:14 a.m. – McCarta testified that most of the drop-offs and pickups of the children were taken care of by Danny, not Leilani.

10:17 a.m. – McCarta tells the court that a warning sign was that Leilani was screaming but not crying when Quinton was originally announced to be missing.

10:21 a.m. – The court excuses Michelle McCarta after completing her testimony.

10:22 a.m. – The state calls its next witness. They have called Jennie Cox to the stand. Cox is a member of the Counter Narcotics Team with the Chatham County Police Department (CCPD). She was a detective with CCPD during the time of the investigation.

10:34 a.m. – Officer Cox testifies on the collection that was done of Quinton Simon’s medical historical records and cellphone records for Daniel Youngkin during the investigation.

10:43 a.m. – Officer Cox testifies about the search warrant she filed to DNA swab Leilani Simon and her mother to compare with the remains that were found.

10:45 a.m. – Officer Cox recounts transporting Leilani Simon’s phone to the Savannah Police Department to execute a second cellphone extraction. The extraction is known as a Graykey forensic extraction.

10:48 a.m. – The prosecution has no further questions and the defense has now begun its questioning of Officer Cox.

10:50 a.m. – The defense has no further questions and Officer Cox has been dismissed. The court is now on a break and will resume in 15 minutes.

11:11 a.m. – The jury has returned to the courtroom and the trial has resumed.

11:13 a.m. – The prosecution calls Corporal Dusean Williams of the Savannah Police Department’s Forensics Unit.

11:15 a.m. – CPL Williams testifies about the Graykey cellphone extraction he conducted on Leilani Simon’s cellphone. CPL Williams testified that a Graykey extraction is designed to specifically get more information from an iPhone.

11:17 a.m. – The defense has begun its questioning of CPL Williams.

11:19 a.m. – The defense has finished its questioning and CPL Williams has been dismissed.

11:20 a.m . – The prosecution calls Sergeant Gary Scott Coleman. Sgt Coleman is an officer with the Chatham County Police Department’s Crime Scene Unit.

11:25 a.m. – Sgt Coleman details his extraction of Leilani Simon, Paul Simon and Daniel Youngkin’s cellphones using a program called Cellbrite.

11:36 a.m. – Sgt Coleman is now walking the jury through a printout of what a Cellbrite extraction collects.

11:41 a.m. – Sgt Coleman testifies on a presentation put together of video collected from Azalea Mobile Home Plaza during the investigation.

12:01 a.m. – The court is in recess for a ten-minute break.

12:15 p.m. – The jury has been brought back in and the trial has now resumed.

12:16 p.m. – Sgt Coleman continues his testimony of a presentation put together of footage collected during the investigation.

12:27 p.m. – The prosecution shows a side-by-side image of Leilani Simon’s Dodge Journey and the car caught on collected footage.

12:39 p.m. – The defense has now begun their questioning of Sgt Coleman.

12:42 p.m. – The defense has completed its questioning. The prosecution is asking follow-up questions before Sgt Coleman is dismissed.

12:46 p.m. – The prosecution has completed its follow-up questions and Sgt Coleman has been dismissed.

12:47 p.m. – The jury has been dismissed for lunch and will return in one hour

2:00 p.m. – The jury has been brought back in. Chatham County Police Detective Randall Noble has taken the stand.

2:01 p.m. – The prosecution questions Det. Noble

2:05 p.m. – Det. Noble says that he had an ADT recording of the execution of Simon’s search warrant.

2:18 p.m . – Det. Noble testifies on the execution with a presentation showing a rendering concept of the Simon home.

2:44 p.m. – The Defense now begins cross-examination of Det. Noble.

2:53 p.m. – The Prosecution asks follow-up questions of Det. Noble.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.