PhD student accused of killing friend’s baby faces death penalty if convicted

Pittsburgh prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case of a woman accused of killing a 6-week-old baby and injuring his twin brother in June, a new court filing shows.

Nicole Virzi, a 30-year-old PhD student, was charged with homicide and multiple counts of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children. The charges stem from an incident in June when Virzi was babysitting the twin boys of a couple she knew in Pittsburgh.

According to a criminal complaint, Virzi called the police on the night of June 15, claiming that one of the twins had fallen from a bassinet. The baby, named Leon Katz, was rushed to a nearby children’s hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The following evening, Virzi discovered injuries to Leon’s twin brother, including scratches, bruising and swelling. After the second baby was taken to the hospital, doctors found the injuries sustained by both twins were neither natural nor accidental.

An examination by the medical examiner’s office revealed that Leon had suffered from a severe skull fracture and multiple brain bleeds, with the cause of death determined to be blunt force trauma to the head, resulting from homicide.

Virzi, who had been staying at an Airbnb in Pittsburgh, told police that Leon was in a bouncer seat when she left the room to get him a bottle. She then heard the baby screaming and found him on the floor, before contacting police. Virzi also alleged that Leon’s twin brother got a scratch to his face when she tried to put him in a car seat and he flailed his arms.

The parents of the twins denied inflicting any injuries on their children.

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office cited torture as one of the aggravating factors justifying their pursuit of the death penalty. Meanwhile, Virzi’s defense attorney David Shrager told NBC News that Virzi was close friends with the twin’s parents and maintains her innocence.

“This was not the direction we hoped the case would go,” Shrager said. “We strongly disagree with the allegations made by the D.A.’s office regarding the death penalty. We will of course be litigating this case aggressively until the truth comes out.”

Virzi was pursuing her doctorate at the University of California, San Diego at the time of her arrest. According to the university’s website, she was studying behavioral medicine at UC San Diego’s joint doctoral program in clinical psychology.

She is now being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond.

Pennsylvania is one of 27 states where the death penalty remains legal. Over 100 people remain on death row in the state — including just one woman — but no executions have been carried out since 1999.