Prosecutors seek death penalty for doctoral student accused of killing her friend's baby in Pennsylvania

A graduate student accused of killing her friend's newborn baby and abusing the baby's twin brother while she was babysitting them in Pennsylvania could be sentenced to death if convicted. Prosecutors announced they plan to seek the death penalty.

Nicole Virzi, 30, was charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault and child endangerment after she allegedly battered and killed six-week-old Leon Katz while the child's parents, Ethan Katz and his wife, Savannah Roberts, took the baby's twin brother, Ari, to the hospital on June 16.

Virzi was later accused of abusing Ari.

The Alleghany County District Attorney's Office said in court Friday that it intends to seek the death penalty for Virzi, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Doctoral student specializing in depression is accused of killing a friend's baby while caring for twins

Nicole Virzi, 30, was charged with manslaughter, grievous bodily harm and endangering a child. (Allegheny County Jail)

Prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty, citing several abuses Virzi is alleged to have committed in connection with the baby's death, including allegations that she killed him through torture, the source said.

Pennsylvania's Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, has declared that he will not sign any death sentences during his term in office.

Virzi claimed that Leon fell out of his baby bouncer when she left him alone for a moment to get a bottle.

However, doctors concluded that the injuries to both twins “were the result of child abuse, as they were inflicted injuries that were neither natural nor accidental,” a criminal complaint states, WTAE reported.

Leon's death was ruled a manslaughter.

The medical examiner concluded that Leon's cause of death was blunt trauma to the head. A CT scan of the head revealed that the child had suffered a severe skull fracture on the left side of the head and had multiple brain hemorrhages.

SHOOTING RESULTS IN SEVERAL INJURED PEOPLE AT A PENNSYLVANIA TOWN'S ANNUAL DOMINICAN FESTIVAL

Ethan Katz and Savannah Roberts hold their twin sons before one of them was allegedly killed by a family friend. (GoFundMe)

On a GoFundMe page to support the family following the baby's death, Virzi was described as a “trusted friend of the family.”

Virzi studied clinical psychology at UC San Diego, specializing in research into the effects of depression on human behavior. She is from California but was living in an Airbnb in the Pittsburgh area at the time of the child's death.

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Screenshot of Nicole Virzi's doctoral student biography on the website of the San Diego State University/UC San Diego joint doctoral program in clinical psychology. (Joint doctoral program in clinical psychology at San Diego State University and UC San Diego)

Her lawyer, David Shrager, said his client maintains her innocence. She pleaded not guilty.

She has no criminal past, is supported by “a loving and supportive family” and is a “close friend of the family of the deceased child's parents and has a long relationship with them,” Shrager previously told Fox News Digital.

Fox News' Chris Eberhart contributed to this report.