Children of slain woman found

[lily]

Such beautiful children.


http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060923/060923_childrenslain_ccol8p.widec.jpg

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14954419/

Kids of woman slain in fetus theft found dead
3 children went missing after mom, fetus found slain; baby sitter charged



MSNBC News Services
Updated: 2 minutes ago
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - Three missing children have been found dead, days
after their mother's body was discovered with the fetus cut from her womb,
authorities announced late Saturday.

The bodies of the children were found hours after a woman was charged and
jailed on $5 million bond in the deaths of Jimella Tunstall, 23, who was
seven months pregnant.

The children were found together, the St. Clair County coroner's office
said. The coroner would not give the location, but KSDTK-TV reported the
bodies were discovered in a housing compex in East St. Louis late on
Saturday.

Police began a search for Tunstall's two sons, 7 and 2, and 1-year-old
daughter, when they found the mother's body last week in a weedy East St.
Louis lot.

Authorities continued a desperate search for Tunstall's children after
charges against Tiffany Hall, 24, were announced Saturday. The children were
last seen with Hall on Monday, three days before she was taken into custody.

Hall faces charges of first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an
unborn child in the death of 23-year-old Jimella Tunstall, said St. Clair
County State's Attorney Robert Haida.

Hall is being held in lieu of $5 million bail in the St. Clair County Jail
in Belleville.

Suspect, slain woman knew each other
Relatives of both women told media outlets the two grew up together and
attended alternative schools. The woman in custody often baby-sat Tunstall's
children, and Tunstall never expressed worry about leaving them in her care,
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.



An autopsy showed Tunstall bled to death after sustaining an abdominal wound
caused by a sharp object, believed to be scissors, said Ace Hart, a deputy
St. Clair County coroner.

Hart said he believes Tunstall was knocked unconscious before her baby,
seven months into gestation, was removed during a slaying he called "very
graphic and very brutal."

Police refused to publicly discuss the evidence or possible statements Hall
has made to investigators. Authorities have also refused to reveal how the
women knew each other, or whether Hall's alleged confession came before
Tunstall's body was found.

Haida did not immediately return messages Saturday seeking information on
Hall's arraignment and attorney.

The charges came a day after a meticulous scouring of the 1,100-acre Frank
Holten State Park, just blocks from where Tunstall's body was found.
Investigators would not say what led them to believe the children were
there.

Woman gave different stories about baby
Hall summoned police to the Frank Holten park on Sept. 15, saying she had
gone into labor, Hart said. The dead baby, taken to a hospital, showed no
signs of trauma, and an autopsy the next day failed to pinpoint a cause of
death, he said.

Hall would not let doctors at the hospital examine her and offered
conflicting reasons for why she went into labor, alternately saying she had
consensual sex and was raped, Hart said.

Authorities say Hall acknowledged to her boyfriend during the baby's funeral
Thursday that the child wasn't his, and that she killed the mother. The
boyfriend told police, who arrested his girlfriend hours later,
investigators said.

DNA tests should determine definitively whether the baby was the one
Tunstall was carrying, Hart said.

The baby was buried Thursday as Taylor Horn after a funeral arranged by L.
King Funeral Chapel, whose president said Hall called minutes after the
service was to start, asking if she could reschedule for a different day so
more relatives could attend. At the time, Levi King said, only two relatives
were there.

The woman showed up two hours late, ultimately signing an affidavit for the
funeral home stating that the child was hers, King said.

The East St. Louis case is the second recent case in the area involving
babies.

Shannon Torrez, 36, of Lonedell, Mo. - south of St. Louis, about an hour's
drive from here - is accused of slashing a young mother's throat and
kidnapping her baby on Sept. 15. The baby was returned unharmed Tuesday, the
same day Torrez was arrested.

Also in Missouri, Lisa Montgomery will stand trial April 30 on charges of
snatching a baby from the womb of Bobbie Jo Stinnett at her Skidmore, Mo.,
home in 2004. The baby survived.

[Labrocca]

This is one bizarre story. Very sad too.

[BoogyMan]

This is heartbreaking.

[lily]

How can someone do this?


Link (http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/09/24/killed.fetus.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories)

Kids of slain mom were drowned, found in appliances





EAST ST. LOUIS, Illinois (AP) -- A woman accused of killing a pregnant woman
and her fetus told police she drowned the woman's three young children and
stuffed them into a washer and dryer at their apartment, an official said
Sunday.

Preliminary autopsies on the dead children Sunday appear to show they were
drowned, Ace Hart, a deputy St. Clair County coroner, told The Associated
Press.

As of Sunday, Tiffany Hall, 24, had not been charged in the children's
deaths, but prosecutors on Saturday accused Hall of killing their mother,
Jimella Tunstall, 23, and her fetus. The fetus had been cut from her womb,
authorities said.

According to Sunday's autopsies, there were no signs of physical abuse or
trauma on the children -- ages 7, 2, and 1 -- and toxicology tests were
pending "to see if they were poisoned or possibly drugged," Hart said.

"They were not drowned there in the wash machine," Hart stressed.

On Sunday, the community turned to prayer to understand the slayings at a
service for the slain family.

"This is an opportunity for people to turn to God," said Debra Kenton, a
member of the New Life Community Church. "Who else can explain things like
this?"

Authorities suspect Tunstall was slain on or about September 15.

That day, Hall summoned police to a park, saying she had given birth to a
stillborn child, Hart said. She was arrested after she told her boyfriend
during the baby's funeral that the baby wasn't his and that she had killed
the mother to get it, authorities said.

Tunstall's body was found Thursday, and authorities began a furious search
for her children. Police said the children were last seen with the Hall on
Monday.

Authorities had visited Tunstall's apartment Friday but noticed nothing
amiss while looking for photographs of the children for media outlets to
publicize in their search, Hart said.

Hall told police where the bodies were and told police she drowned them,
Hart said. He said he understood why investigators may have overlooked the
children during their previous trip to the apartment. "Who would be looking
in the washer and dryer?"

By Saturday night, Hart said, "you could find them by the smell."

The oldest, 7-year-old DeMond Tunstall, was found in the dryer and the
younger two children -- 2-year-old Ivan Tunstall-Collins and 1-year-old
Jinela Tunstall -- in the washer. Two of the children were found nude, the
third wearing only underpants, Hart said. (Watch crime scene where cops
found children's bodies -- :50)

One by one, coroner Rick Stone declared each child dead a minute apart. Hart
had the grim chore of pulling each from the appliance, softly laying them on
the floor and zipping them into separate body bags.

Hall remained jailed Sunday on $5 million bond, charged with first-degree
murder in Tunstall's death and with intentional homicide of an unborn child.

Meanwhile, stuffed animals continued to mount outside Tunstall's apartment,
its door crisscrossed with white evidence tape. There was a white teddy bear
and a stuffed race car with DeMond's name.

An autopsy showed that Jimella Tunstall bled to death after sustaining an
abdominal wound caused by a sharp object, believed to be scissors, Hart has
said. Authorities believe her womb was cut open after she was knocked
unconscious.

By all accounts, Hall and Jimella Tunstall were like sisters, survivors in
this place defined by crime, poverty, crumbling buildings and potholed
roads.

The two were quiet loners who gravitated toward each other at school. They
both became teenage mothers.

Tasha McCray, a frequent visitor to the housing complex, says Jimella
Tunstall seldom mingled and routinely sat outside on a red plastic crate to
watch DeMond walk to his school bus stop.

Relatives say Tunstall grew up with Hall and had let her baby-sit her
children. Hall has two children of her own. Illinois State Police Capt.
Craig Koehler said they are "safe and sound."

Hall likely will be arraigned Monday on the two charges, each carrying 20 to
60 years or life in prison, prosecutors said. The murder count could be
punishable by the death penalty.

DNA tests should determine definitively whether the baby was the one
Tunstall was carrying, Hart said.