A San Diego woman who traveled to Pennsylvania to visit her best friend and newborn twin boys has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the death of one of the infants and the physical abuse of the other. Nicole Virzi, 32, entered the plea in Allegheny County, facing a potential prison sentence of 35 to 80 years.
Virzi, a former doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at UC San Diego, arrived in Pittsburgh in June 2024 to spend time with her friend’s growing family. Within hours of a helpful postpartum visit, the situation devolved into a tragedy that hospitalized both newborns and left one dead.
According to police reports and court transcripts filed by the Allegheny County district attorney’s office, Virzi eventually admitted to investigators that she intentionally harmed the babies. She told authorities she had experienced a lifelong “compulsion…. to hurt kids.” Virzi confessed that she shook 6-week-old Leon Katz hard and dropped him purposefully multiple times, including onto a tile floor, though she maintained to investigators that she “didn’t want him to die.”
The sequence of events began when Virzi alerted the twins’ parents to unusual injuries discovered on the surviving twin, Ari. While the parents took Ari to the hospital, Virzi offered to babysit Leon. Savannah Roberts, the twins’ mother, stated in an emotional court filing that she had never intended to leave Virzi alone with the children but relented after discovering Ari’s injuries.
During that time alone, Leon suffered fatal trauma. Virzi placed a 911 call, initially claiming the infant had fallen on his head. The baby was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead. Subsequent medical scans revealed a severe skull fracture on the left side of the head and multiple brain bleeds. A physician determined the injuries sustained by both infants were consistent with child abuse.
Virzi’s guilty plea covers charges of third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She faces between 35 and 80 years behind bars when sentenced.
In a victim impact statement submitted to the court, Roberts expressed profound grief and betrayal over the actions of someone she considered family. Despite the trauma, Roberts reported that the surviving twin, Ari, is currently doing well and growing into a caring child, though every milestone is overshadowed by the absence of his brother.
