Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for 'Trusted Family Friend' Accused of Murdering Baby, Assaulting Twin

Nicole Virzi, who just turned 30, has been charged with criminal homicide, three counts of aggravated assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child after, prosecutors allege, she killed her friend's newborn child while the baby's parents took the boy's twin brother to the hospital -- for injuries she's also accused of causing.

According to WPXI, the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty in the case last week, citing four reasons for the move in their filing. Those reasons reportedly include: "the offense was committed by means of torture," "the defendant has a significant history of felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person" and that "the victim was a child under 12 years of age."

Virzi was arrested back on June 16, while she was visiting the Pittsburgh area for the weekend. In a GoFundMe set up to benefit the victims' parents, Virzi was described as a "trusted family friend."

According to the criminal complaint, via The San Diego Union-Tribune, Virzi was visiting the family of the two boys when she found blood in the diaper of one of the infants and an "injury to the genital area." Per the parents, Virzi was alone with the injured baby before the discovery.

While the parents took the baby to the hospital, they left the boy's twin, Leon, at home with Virzi.

She allegedly told police that she put Leon in a bouncy chair, taking care of him throughout the night -- when, around 11pm, she went to grab him a bottle from the kitchen, noticing he wasn't strapped into the chair. Per police, she said that's when she heard the baby cry out from the other room, where she found him with a "large bump on his head." Virzi then called 9-1-1, saying the baby was having trouble breathing; he died at the hospital after midnight -- on Father's Day.

Per the complaint, Leon suffered a fatal skull fracture, with the cause of death determined to be blunt force trauma and ruled a homicide. A doctor treating both children reportedly told police the injuries they sustained were consistent with child abuse and were "not accidental" or "natural."

The other child allegedly suffered scratches, bruises and swelling.

Virzi, per the complaint, was allegedly "unable to provide any plausible explanation for the cause consistent with the extent of the injuries that Leon Katz sustained while in her care."

Virzi, via her attorney, has denied any wrongdoing. She has entered a not guilty plea.

"My client is devastated. If there was something she wanted to convey, it would be the absolute horrible pain she's feeling for the family. It's heart-wrenching," defense attorney David Shrager said in court last month.

"There is a general misunderstanding of what transpired in the public. And we ask that people wait until they've heard all the facts to resolve their thoughts on this matter," he added. "And the facts will come out at the appropriate time at the appropriate venue. We asked that people refrain from judging."

"My client is absolutely emotionally devastated for the family. Those were her close friends, and she's in a great deal of pain," said Shrager, who also previously pointed out his client has never had trouble with the law in the past.