Former UC San Diego PhD student pleads guilty in death of friend's six-week-old son

Mixed · 2Nicole Virzi, 32, took a plea deal on Wednesday 28 October 2026 over the death of Leon Katz, the six-week-old son of her former close friend, and the injury of his twin brother. 1 2 Mixed · 2Metro reports she pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal homicide, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children; the New York Post says the pleas were to third-degree criminal homicide and to injuring the other infant. 2 1 Mixed · 2She was ordered to serve a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 80 years in state prison, and had faced a potential death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder. 1 2

Mixed · 2Allegheny County prosecutors said the deal was made partly to honour the family's wishes, as the family wanted to avoid a trial. 1 2 Right · 1A Pittsburgh police officer who responded to the home told the Daily Mail he was disappointed by the deal, saying "We know she did it. She confessed to it." 1 Left · 1According to Metro, the events took place in June 2024 at the Pittsburgh home of Savannah Roberts and Ethan Katz, where Virzi, whom Roberts met through a Philadelphia graduate psychology department, was staying. 2

Mixed · 2Virzi was babysitting Leon while his parents took his twin Ari to hospital with a genital injury; police later learned Virzi had caused it. 1 2 Left · 1Metro says she called police at about 11.17pm on 15 June saying Leon had trouble breathing and a lump on his head; he died hours later of brain bleeds and a skull fracture, and she was arrested at her Airbnb. 2 Mixed · 2Virzi first said Leon fell from his bouncer seat while she fetched a bottle, but in a 13-hour police interview she allegedly admitted shaking and dropping him and flipping him upside down on the bathroom floor, and said she had long had an uncontrollable urge to hurt children. 1 2

Left · 1Metro reports her lawyers argued the confession was coerced after 13 hours in custody without food and with little sleep, but the judge denied that motion. 2 Mixed · 2Virzi did not speak at the plea hearing; her defence attorney said "No words of apology would be sufficient." Roberts, in a victim impact statement, said the crime had "eradicated my sense of safety across every domain of my life" and dismissed Virzi's "so-called compulsions" as no excuse. 1 2 Mixed · 2Both outlets describe Virzi as a clinical psychology PhD student weeks from finishing; the Post ties her to UC San Diego, while Metro calls her a former California PhD student. 1 2