Nicole Virzi Pleads Guilty to Killing Friend's Infant in Pittsburgh

A 32-year-old woman from San Diego has pleaded guilty to killing her best friend's 6-week-old son and abusing his twin brother during a visit to Pittsburgh in June 2024. Nicole Virzi entered the plea in Pennsylvania, admitting responsibility for the fatal injuries suffered by Leon Katz while he was in her care.

According to the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, Virzi pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, aggravated assault and two counts of endangering a child's welfare. Under the agreement, she faces a prison sentence ranging from 35 to 80 years.

The plea agreement was presented before Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos on Wednesday. Virzi had previously faced the possibility of a death penalty trial in connection with Leon's death and the abuse of his surviving twin, Ari.

Investigators established that Virzi was visiting her close friend, Savannah Roberts, and the children's father, Ethan Katz, in Pittsburgh. On June 15, 2024, Roberts and Katz took Ari to a hospital after discovering scratches and bruising around his lower body and groin.

Virzi offered to look after Leon while the parents sought medical attention for his brother. Authorities said Leon sustained fatal injuries during that period. Virzi subsequently contacted emergency services shortly after 11:15 p.m., claiming the infant had fallen from his baby bouncer and hit the left side of his head.

Leon was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead early the following morning. Medical examinations identified a severe skull fracture and multiple brain hemorrhages. Doctors determined that the injuries sustained by both children were consistent with physical abuse.

According to investigative records, Virzi initially failed to provide a plausible explanation for the infant's injuries. She later admitted intentionally harming the children and described a longstanding impulse to hurt young people.

She told investigators she had a “compulsion .... to hurt kids” throughout her life. Virzi also acknowledged shaking Leon violently and deliberately dropping him several times, including onto a tiled floor, although she maintained that she “didn’t want him to die.”

Virzi's statements were documented in court records. The former doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at UC San Diego had traveled from California to visit the family and spend time with the newborn twins.

Roberts described the devastating impact of the case in a victim impact statement submitted to the court. She said the family had trusted Virzi and never anticipated that someone they considered close could harm their children.

“It is unfathomable to me how anyone, particularly someone I considered family, could see baby Leon, and shake, drop and throw him to the ground, torturing him for their own pleasure,” Roberts wrote.

She also challenged the suggestion that Virzi's claimed compulsions diminished her responsibility for the crimes.

“Nicole likely wants us to believe that her so-called compulsions are outside of her control, as it’s easier to argue that than face the reality that her entire life, she has nurtured and fostered an inner depravity so corrupt it’s in direct contrast to what it means to be human,” Roberts wrote.

Roberts said she and Ethan had initially declined Virzi's repeated offers to babysit their children. Even when they needed to take Ari to the hospital, they had arranged alternative care for Leon before Virzi insisted on watching him.

“But she insisted on watching him instead,” Roberts wrote, describing how Virzi continued sending reassuring text messages throughout the evening.

Roberts also recalled celebrating Father's Day with Virzi and the twins shortly before the killing. She said Leon had spent hours sitting comfortably on Virzi's lap the previous day.

“That day,” Roberts wrote, “Leon spent the afternoon comfortably sitting on Nicole’s lap, leaving a pit in my stomach at the realization that she was perfectly capable of holding him for hours without hurting him.”

Following Leon's death, Roberts described the experience of holding her dying child and repeating words of affection to him.

“You are loved,” she recalled saying.

Roberts also questioned the severity of Virzi's account of how the fatal injuries occurred. She cited medical findings suggesting the force involved was comparable to a high-speed vehicle collision.

“After Leon died,” Roberts wrote, “we learned the force of impact needed to cause his brain injuries was consistent with a 60 mph car collision, a far cry from anything Nicole had taken responsibility for in her confession.”

Allegheny County prosecutors said the decision to accept a plea agreement followed discussions with the victims' family and consideration of the emotional consequences of a prolonged trial.

Rebecca Spangler, chief of staff to District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., explained the prosecution's decision in a statement.

“Although this office was committed to pursuing this case to trial and its ultimate conclusion,” Spangler said, “after continued and ongoing consultation with the family and considering the best interest of the community and its protection, we agreed to offer [the] plea and sentence.”

She said the agreement took into account the family's suffering throughout the two-year legal process, describing its circumstances as involving “crushing emotional pain and grief.”

Members of Leon's extended family also submitted statements describing their loss. Larry Katz, the infant's paternal grandfather, recalled the family's affection for the child and the nickname they had given him.

“Not only because of his roundness, but because of his serene face when he was sucking on a bottle,” Larry Katz wrote, explaining why the family called Leon Buddha Baby.

He said he and his wife traveled from Seattle to Pittsburgh after the killing to help their son and daughter-in-law move out of their Walnut Street apartment. Before returning home several weeks later, he saw Ari smile for the first time.

“I never got to see Leon smile,” he wrote, “but I’m sure it would have lit up my world, just as his brother’s did.”

Roberts said raising Ari has become an important source of strength while the family continues coping with the loss. She also expressed concern about how the surviving child might eventually understand the violence involving his brother.

“We can’t begin to imagine how his torture and his brother’s murder will impact him throughout his life, particularly as he gets old enough to comprehend what happened. I have to be sure that when he looks up at me, he sees a warm, secure, loving mom, no matter how scared I truly feel,” Roberts wrote.

She described motherhood as a source of comfort while acknowledging that every milestone in Ari's life reminds her of the child who died.

“Yet, as Leon’s mom too, every milestone, accomplishment and birthday that Ari reaches is shadowed by the realization that Leon should be experiencing just as much of life, by his brother’s side,” Roberts wrote.

Roberts also said that raising Ari continues to bring her happiness despite the trauma experienced by the family.

“Being his mom brings me more joy and comfort than anything in my life ever has,” she wrote.

According to the family, Ari is now growing and developing well. Roberts described him as a caring and affectionate child, while continuing to acknowledge the lasting impact of his twin brother's death.