Prosecutors say the parents entrusted the lives of the twin babies to a “trusted family friend” who is accused of killing one of the boys and abusing the other.
Nicole Virge, a fifth-year doctoral student specializing in the effects of depression on human behavior, babysat 6-week-old twin boys, Leon and Ali Katz, on June 16.
That was the day Leon died. Virgi said Leon fell out of his bouncer chair after waking up from a nap to get his bottle.
However, doctors who examined the baby’s injuries found a skull fracture on the left side of his head and several brain bleeds “consistent with those sustained as a result of child abuse.” WTAE reported.
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Nicole Virge, 29, has been charged with murder, three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of child endangerment. She has pleaded not guilty. (Allegheny County Jail)
Virge, 29, was arrested by police near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she was babysitting the children, and charged with murder, three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of child endangerment.
The other baby also showed signs of abuse, prosecutors said.
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She has pleaded not guilty and continues to maintain her innocence, her attorney, David Schrager, said.
“There are some very disturbing allegations,” Schrager told Fox News Digital. “She denies any intentional conduct.”
Ethan and Savannah Katz hold their twin sons, one of whom was allegedly murdered by a family friend. (GoFundMe)
According to Schrager, Virgi was the daughter of a prominent Manhattan cardiologist and was close to completing her doctorate.
He said she had no criminal record, had a “loving and supportive family” and was “close family friends and long-time friends with the parents of the child who died.”
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Just three days before the murder, Virgi had been working in a new Research Papers The video was published on Page X of the Heart and Mind Journal Office and has since been removed.
The Heart and Mind Journal office could not be reached for comment.
A doctor’s medical examination on baby Leon detailed worrying injuries.
Screenshot of doctoral student Nicole Virge’s biography on the San Diego State University/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology website. (San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology)
According to a WTAE report based on the criminal complaint, the doctor told detectives that “the injuries sustained by both twins are consistent with those resulting from child abuse as they are not natural or accidental but man-made injuries.”
The baby’s death has been ruled a homicide, and Virge is currently being held in the Allegheny County Jail in Pennsylvania.
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“Leon Katz was a beautiful, healthy 6-week-old baby boy who tragically passed away under horrific circumstances,” said a GoFundMe set up on behalf of his parents, Savannah and Ethan Katz.
“Leon will always be remembered as a happy, smiley and rambunctious little boy. His untimely and tragic death, which occurred on Ethan’s first Father’s Day, has had a deep impact on the Pittsburgh community.”
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Screenshot of Nicole Virzi’s biography from her time as a PhD student. (San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology)
Virgi writes: Her Career The San Diego State University/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology website says that her research “aims to explore the complex interactions between psychological factors such as depression, stress, negative emotions, and trauma and significant health outcomes and behaviors, including metabolic syndrome, heart disease, obesity, eating behaviors, and exercise.”
“I am particularly interested in exploring these connections between women and people who have experienced trauma,” Virgi writes in her bio.
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“By focusing on these relationships, my research aims to identify challenges and opportunities for intervention that are unique to these vulnerable groups.”
