Pittsburgh prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a 30-year-old PhD student named Nicole Virzi, who has been charged with homicide and multiple counts of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children. The charges stem from an incident where Virzi was babysitting twin boys and one of them ended up dead while the other sustained serious injuries. The medical examiner’s office determined that the cause of death for the baby, Leon Katz, was blunt force trauma to the head, resulting from homicide. The injuries sustained by both twins were deemed to be neither natural nor accidental.
Virzi had been staying at an Airbnb in Pittsburgh at the time of the incident and called the police on June 15, claiming that one of the twins had fallen from a bassinet. The baby was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The following evening, Virzi discovered injuries on Leon’s twin brother, including scratches, bruising, and swelling. Doctors determined that these injuries were also not accidental. Virzi alleged that Leon fell from a bouncer seat while she went to get him a bottle and that his twin got a scratch on his face when she tried to put him in a car seat.
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 in Virzi’s case. However, Virzi’s defense attorney, David Shrager, maintains her innocence and stated that Virzi was close friends with the parents of the twins. He expressed disappointment in the decision to pursue the death penalty and stated that they would be aggressively litigating the case until the truth comes out.
Nicole Virzi, who was pursuing her doctorate at the University of California, San Diego in behavioral medicine at the time of her arrest, is currently being held without bond at the Allegheny County Jail. Pennsylvania is one of 27 states where the death penalty is legal, and despite having over 100 people on death row in the state (including just one woman), no executions have been carried out since 1999. The fact that prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Virzi, a rare occurrence in Pennsylvania, underscores the seriousness of the charges she is facing.
The case involving Nicole Virzi has raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the death of one twin and the injuries sustained by the other. The medical examiner’s findings of homicide in Leon’s case and the determination that the injuries were not accidental in both twins’ cases have led to the pursuit of the death penalty for Virzi. However, her defense maintains her innocence and asserts that the allegations made by the District Attorney’s Office are unfounded. The legal proceedings in this case are likely to be closely watched given the seriousness of the charges and the potential consequences for Virzi.
As the case unfolds, the circumstances surrounding the death of 6-week-old Leon Katz and the injuries sustained by his twin brother will be further investigated. The legal battle ahead for Nicole Virzi, who was pursuing a doctorate in behavioral medicine before her arrest, will involve a vigorous defense against the charges brought against her. The decision by Pittsburgh prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case underscores the gravity of the situation and the impact it has had on all parties involved. The pursuit of justice in this tragic case will continue to unfold as the legal process moves forward.
