A California woman admitted to killing her best friend’s newborn son while babysitting because she was upset over being asked to do what she considered “nanny work.”
Nicole Elizabeth Virzi pleaded guilty on Wednesday, October 28, to one count of third-degree criminal homicide for her role in the 2024 death of 6-week-old Leon Katz, according to the Daily Mail. She will later be sentenced to serve between 35 and 80 years in state prison.
Prior to her plea, prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty against Virzi, 32, after she was initially charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault and child endangerment.
Leon’s mother, Savannah Roberts, read a victim impact statement during Wednesday’s hearing, where she reportedly became emotional as she explained that Virzi was her “former best friend.”
“[Leon’s death has] eradicated my sense of safety across every domain of my life. I will never fully understand the torture and murder that Nicole inflicted on my twins,” Roberts said, per the Daily Mail. “My own self-confidence is completely shattered. Nicole’s actions have completely changed me as a person.”
Roberts continued, “I’ve learned that the bogeyman is real and monsters really do live under the bed.”
The case began on June 15, 2024, when Leon’s parents asked Virzi to babysit him while they took his twin brother to the hospital. Authorities later determined that the twin brother sustained injuries that were inflicted by Virzi.
Virzi called 911 just before midnight to report that Leon had fallen from a bassinet and hit his head. He was then taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead hours later.
A doctor who examined both of the twins determined their injuries were “consistent with having been sustained as a result of child abuse, as these are inflicted injuries that are not natural and not accidental,” according to a probable cause affidavit viewed by Law & Crime. Additionally, “all of Leon’s injuries were acute.”
Virzi agreed to speak with detectives following Leon’s death, and she was “unable to provide any plausible explanation for the cause consistent with the extent of the injuries that Leon Katz sustained while in her care.”
Virzi told authorities that she “fell asleep for a period of time, while Leon was in the bouncer seat.” She said she then woke up and saw that Leon was not strapped into the seat.
She claimed that she went into the kitchen to get Leon a bottle, and then allegedly heard screams before she found Leon on the floor. After she claimed he bumped his head, she called the baby’s parents and 911.
Detectives repeatedly told Virzi that her claims did not line up with Leon’s injuries, and she eventually admitted to intentionally harming Leon.
“I’m going to tell you the truth. The biggest part of that truth is that I did not want him to die,” she told detectives, per the affidavit. “From a very, very young age, I don’t know what it is, but I always had this urge — almost like a compulsion I can’t control — to hurt kids.”
Virzi added that she became “kind of grew angry” when she traveled to Pennsylvania to see her best friend and felt like she was “being put to nanny work.”
“Something about that built up a lot of anger in me,” she said. “So when I was alone with [Leon], I shook him a couple times — hard. And I dropped him a couple times — hard.”
Virzi also admitted that she flipped Leon upside down onto a tile floor, and she heard “some kind of crack” afterward.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
