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2006 Illinois Case: Friend Killed Pregnant Woman, Then Her Three Children

Coverage revisits how an autopsy plus a boyfriend’s tip built the case that ended in a 2008 life sentence.

Overview

  • An autopsy found that 23-year-old Jimella Tunstall, seven months pregnant, was killed after a crude cesarean with scissors removed her unborn baby.
  • Days earlier, Tiffany Hall told police she had delivered a stillborn, declined a full medical exam, and was allowed to take the fetus for burial.
  • Hall’s boyfriend alerted police after she reportedly admitted the baby was taken from her friend, leading to her arrest the day Tunstall’s body was found.
  • Investigators later discovered Tunstall’s children—Desmond, 7, Ivan, 2, and one-year-old Jinela—decomposing in a washing machine and a tumble dryer.
  • Authorities said Hall indicated where the children were, investigators believe the children were drowned, and Hall ultimately pleaded guilty in 2008 to receive life without parole.