San Diego woman pleads guilty in 2024 death of infant in Pennsylvania

A woman from San Diego pleaded guilty this week to charges related to the 2024 death of her best friend’s 6-week-old baby in Pennsylvania, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The woman, identified as Nicole Virzi, admitted to intentionally harming the infant and his twin brother during a visit to Pittsburgh, according to a statement from the Allegheny County district attorney’s office.

Virzi told investigators she had a lifelong compulsion to hurt children and admitted shaking the baby hard and dropping him multiple times, including on a tile floor, though she said she did not intend to kill him.

The infant, Leon Katz, suffered a severe skull fracture and multiple brain bleeds, injuries consistent with child abuse, according to medical reports cited by police.

Virzi faces up to 80 years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and endangering a child’s welfare charges.

She had traveled from San Diego to Pennsylvania to visit her friend and the newborn twins, initially reporting injuries to one twin and later babysitting the other when the fatal injuries occurred.