Britt Jones
Prosecutors in the US have revealed they are seeking the death penalty against a student accused of murdering her friend's six-week-old baby.
Nicole Virzi has been charged with homicide as well as several counts of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children and is currently in custody before she is set for her pre-trial conference.
The 29-year-old - who waived her right to a hearing because she was friends with the child's parents - is alleged to have killed little Leon Katz while she was babysitting him at her friend’s Pittsburgh home in June.
Prosecutors allege that she inflicted ‘torture’ upon the baby boy, and claim she is responsible for a fracture on his skull, as well as several bleeds on the brain.
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As well as murder, she's accused of injuring Leon's twin brother, Ari.
According to court documents which were filed last week, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office is asking for the death penalty, alleging: “The defendant committed the killing while in the perpetration of a felony. The offense was committed by means of torture.”
The parents of the twins, Ethan Katz and Savannah Roberts, considered Virzi a 'trusted friend' and deny injuring the twins.
According to a criminal complaint, on 15 June Virzi had gone to make up a bottle for one of the twins in the kitchen when she heard screaming.
Virzi claimed Leon was in a bassinet when she left him momentarily to grab the bottle, and that he fell from it while she wasn't looking.
However, the court filings claimed that a doctor told investigators 'the injuries sustained by both (twins are) consistent with having been sustained as a result of child abuse, as these are inflicted injuries that are not natural and not accidental.'
Her attorney David Shrager told DailyMail.com that even though he knew the death sentence could be a possibility if found guilty, he wasn’t expecting it to happen.
He said: “I did not believe [it] was going to happen.
“Obviously we discussed this as a possibility... I was aware it could.”
According to Shrager, Virzi took the news ‘as well as can be expected,' but that it is 'obviously very difficult news and not what we were hoping was going to happen.'
However, the lawyer stated that they are both 'confident in our defense of the case’ and that ‘she looks forward to having an opportunity to tell her truth.’
As soon as the penalty decision had been made by the prosecution, Shrager stated that he informed the Virzi family who are ‘remaining positive.’
He also told NBC News that Virzi maintains her innocence.
He said: “This was not the direction we hoped the case would go.
“We strongly disagree with the allegations made by the DA’s office regarding the death penalty. We will of course be litigating this case aggressively until the truth comes out.”
Her next court appearance is scheduled for 13 September.