Friend gets 35 years for infant murder

Nicole Virzi will spend at least 35 years in prison for the death of her best friend's infant son. The 32-year-old woman pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and other charges in a Pittsburgh court on Wednesday. Her sentence ranges from 35 to 80 years behind bars.

Virzi had previously faced a charge of capital murder, which carried the possibility of the death penalty. In a plea agreement, she accepted a lesser charge. The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office stated that they reached this decision after consulting with the victim's family. The office said the offer served the best interest of the community and its protection.

The incident occurred in June 2024. Virzi was visiting Pittsburgh from California, where she was a doctoral student at the University of California San Diego. She was staying with her friend, Savannah Roberts, and helping to care for Roberts' newborn twins, Leon and Ari Katz. Roberts and her partner, Ethan Katz, had taken Ari to the hospital after finding wounds on the child's body.

While the parents were away, Virzi called police late that night. She told officers that six-week-old Leon had fallen from a baby bouncer. Paramedics rushed the infant to a nearby children's hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Investigators quickly determined that the severity of Leon's injuries could not have resulted from a fall from such a short height. They took Virzi into custody.

A criminal complaint filed by Pittsburgh police ruled Leon's death a homicide. The report cited blunt force trauma to the head as the cause. Authorities also determined that Virzi caused the injuries to Ari that had prompted the family to leave the infant in her care. Virzi told investigators that she always had a compulsion she could not control to harm kids, according to prosecutors.

Savannah Roberts described the tragedy in a letter to Judge Jill E. Rangos. Roberts said Virzi's actions have fundamentally changed her as a person. She wrote that she feels unrecognizable from the woman she used to be. Roberts noted that she could not have imagined her best friend was capable of such cruelty or violence. She stated that her self-confidence is forever shattered and that she will never forgive herself for failing to protect her babies.

Roberts detailed the physical trauma she experienced in the weeks following the death. It took her nearly a year to use the bathroom, shower, or brush her teeth alone. She recalled that Virzi had hurled Leon to the ground on their old bathroom floor, fracturing his skull. Roberts wrote that her partner Ethan would stand outside the bathroom door to talk to her and hold Ari so she could see him. She said she has never been able to leave Ari alone with a friend and does not know if she ever will.

Phil DiLucente, a local criminal law attorney, said it is highly unlikely a parole board would ever allow Virzi to leave prison. He noted that she must serve the full 35-year minimum before becoming eligible for parole. DiLucente told NBC News that the case is bizarre because Virzi flew in from across the country to commit a premeditated act. He said she does not fit the typical criteria for mitigating factors that might support granting parole.

An attorney for Virzi could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Both of Leon's parents are twins, and Roberts said it was always the couple's dream to have twins. The surviving twin, Ari, remains under his mother's constant watch. Roberts wrote that she worries she will never be able to let him out of her sight.