PITTSBURGH — A woman has taken a plea deal for killing her friend’s 6-week-old baby and hurting the infant’s twin brother while babysitting them back in 2024.
Channel 11 reporter Lauren Talotta was in court as Nicole Virzi pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, endangering the welfare of children and aggravated assault.
The incident took place in a Walnut Street home in June of 2024. Police responded to a report that a baby had fallen from a bassinet. That baby, Leon Katz, died at a hospital, suffering from a severe skull fracture and several brain bleeds.
The baby’s twin, Ari, was found to have scratches, bruising and swelling that were sustained when he was in Virzi’s care, according to court documents.
Virzi will spend 35 to 80 years behind bars.
He may have only been six weeks old, but baby Leon was so loved by his parents, grandparents, and extended family. That was evident during Wednesday’s hearing and sentencing of Nicole Virzi, his mother’s best friend who tortured and killed him.
Family members sobbed, uncontrollably at times, saying they will never get to know what Leon would become or what he would have given to the world.
Through tears, Leon’s mother, Savannah Roberts, remembered her “Leapfrog Leon” because of how he curled his legs and stuck out his tongue. His grandfather said Leon, a twin, was meant to grow up with his brother, Ari.
Prosecutors detailed how in June 2024, Virzi flew out from California, just weeks after Leon and Ari were born. When she got the chance, prosecutors said Virzi tortured the babies inside of their Walnut Street home, starting with Ari.
When the twins’ parents took Ari to the hospital — with injuries to his genitals they later found out were caused by Virzi — she allegedly killed Leon, shaking him and hitting his head on the bathroom floor.
In court, the prosecution said Virzi told police that she “always had a compulsion she could not control to harm kids” and even Googled it.
Roberts said she tries to live each day for her family but said her heart is broken.
“I’ll never forgive myself for not protecting him from this monster,” Roberts said.
Channel 11 previously reported the district attorney was seeking the death penalty against Virzi. WPXI legal analyst Phil DiLucente explained what could have been behind the plea agreement.
“What the district attorneys typically do – and probably Mr. Zappala’s office is — they go to the victim’s family, and they ask, ‘Is this acceptable to you?’ If it is, they take that into great consideration, amongst other things, of trying a case,” DiLucente said. “With a trial — and the appeals coming from there, if a guilty verdict — it can be very agonizing.”
The District Attorney’s office issued this statement:
“This was a horrific case in which Virzi used her trusted relationship with the Roberts/Katz family to place herself in a situation where she could commit her horrendous acts. Throughout the criminal justice process the Roberts/Katz family has continued to endure crushing emotional pain and grief. Although this office was committed to pursuing this case to trial and its ultimate conclusion, after continued and on-going consultation with the family and considering the best interest of the community and its protection we agreed to offer the above plea and sentence. The family asks that their privacy be respected and they be left to heal.”
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