Tiffany HALL
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Killed her pregnant friend to steal her unborn baby
Number of victims: 5
Date of murders: September 2006
Date of arrest: September 21, 2006
Date of birth: March 23, 1982
Victims profile: Her pregnant friend Jimella Tunstall, 23, the unborn child and the victim's three children, DeMond Tunstall, 7, Ivan Tunstall-Collins 2, and Jinella Tunstall, 1
Method of murder: Bled to death / Drowning
Location: East St. Louis, St. Claire County, Illinois, USA
Status: Sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on June 9, 2008
Guilty plea to killing woman, her fetus and kids
Deal means Tiffany Hall, 26, will avoid execution, serve life without parole
Associated Press
June 9, 2008
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — A woman pleaded guilty Monday to killing her pregnant friend, the unborn child and the victim's three children in a plea deal that allowed her to avoid the death penalty.
Tiffany Hall, 26, pleaded guilty to all five charges against her — four counts of murder and one count of intentional homicide in the death of the fetus — and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Hall struck her friend Jimella Tunstall, 23, on the head repeatedly with a table leg, then cut Tunstall's fetus from her womb in a bathtub, prosecutor Robert Haida said. Tunstall bled to death, Haida said. Hall then dumped her friend's body in an East St. Louis lot.
Hours later, Hall told police in Illinois she had given birth to a stillborn child. When police arrived, she had the dead fetus with her. She refused to be examined at a hospital.
Three days later, Hall visited the father of two of Tunstall's children and the unborn child, Haida said. The father was caring for all the children, Haida said. Hall told the father that Tunstall wanted her to pick up the children and Tunstall's vehicle, he told police.
The father told the officers that was the last time he saw his children, Haida said.
Hall then drowned the three children — DeMond Tunstall, 7, Ivan Tunstall-Collins 2, and Jinella Tunstall, 1 — in the same bathtub where she killed their mother, Haida said.
Story begins to unravel
Authorities said Hall's story began to unravel on Sept. 21, 2006, about a week after Tunstall's death, when she told her boyfriend that she killed a pregnant woman and stole the fetus. He told police.
The bodies of the three children were found two days later hidden in a washer and dryer inside the East St. Louis apartment where the children had lived with their mother.
One of Hall's attorneys, James Gomric, said he could not speak to a motive or discuss whether his client had shown remorse. He said Hall had been mentally fit to stand trial, but she also had unresolved mental health issues and had an IQ in the mid-70s.
After the hearing, some of Tunstall's relatives said they had already forgiven Hall. Sandra Myers, Jimella Tunstall's mother, said taking one life would not have been justice for losing the lives of others. "I have to forgive her," she said.
Fetus Thief Pleads Guilty, Dodges Death Penalty
By Charles Montaldo - Crime.about.com
June 9, 2008
An Illinois woman facing two death penalty charges for killing her pregnant friend, her unborn child and the victim's three children has entered a guilty plea in a deal that allows her to avoid the death penalty. Tiffany Hall was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Hall, 26, pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and one count of intentional homicide, in the death of the unborn child of Jimella Tunstall.
Prosecutors said Hall repeatedly struck the 23-year-old Tunstall over the head with a table leg and then cut the fetus from her womb in a bathtub. Tunstall's autopsy showed that she bled to death.
Hall dumped Tunstall's body in a vacant lot in East St. Louis. A few hours later, Hall told Illinois police that she had given birth to a stillborn child, but she refused to be examined at a hospital.
Drowned the Three Children
Three days later, Hall told the father of Tunstall's children that Tunstall wanted her to pick up the children and Tunstall's car, according to prosecutor Robert Haida. Hall then drowned the three children in the same bathroom where she killed Tunstall. She hid their dead bodies in a washer and dryer in the apartment.
The victims were DeMond Tunstall, 7; Ivan Tunstall-Collins 2; and Jinella Tunstall, 1.
About a week after Tunstall's death, Hall was arrested after she admitted to her boyfriend that she had killed her pregnant friend to steal her unborn baby and the boyfriend contacted police.
James Gomric, an attorney for Hall, told reporters that Hall had been found competent to stand trial, but she had an IQ in the 70s. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that no one who is mentally retarded can be executed.
Multiple murder case may be resolved
By Nicholas J.C. Pistor - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 6, 2008
BELLEVILLE -- The case against Tiffany Hall, the East St. Louis woman facing the death penalty for an alleged rampage that killed her best friend, the friend's fetus and three children, could come to an abrupt end on Monday.
A court hearing in the case is set for Monday morning. Robert Haida, the St. Clair County state’s attorney, issued a statement late this afternoon saying there was an "anticipated disposition" in the case.
Friday’s announcement signals that the death penalty may be taken off the table in exchange for a plea deal. Of course, guilty pleas in death penalty cases are rare.
However, Haida would not comment on the case outside of his written statement.
In 2006, authorities allege, Hall beat the pregnant Jimella Tunstall over the head and used scissors to cut her fetus from her womb. She then left the mother of three to bleed to death in a bathtub, wrapped her in a shower curtain and dropped her in a weeded East St. Louis lot.
Several days later, Hall allegedly drowned Tunstall’s three children in the same bathtub, one by one.
"It’s time to take a bath," Hall called out to the children before the killings, according to police.
The slain children, who were stuffed into the washer and dryer of Tunstall's home, were DeMond Tunstall, 7; Ivan Tunstall-Collins, 2; and 10-month-old Jinella Tunstall. Hall was their baby sitter and was supposed to be their mother’s best friend.
James Gomric, Hall’s defense attorney, declined to comment on the case today.
Tiffany Hall Faces 2nd Death Penalty Charge
By Charles Montaldo - Crime.about.com
August 17, 2007
An Illinois woman who already faced the death penalty for the murder of Jimella Tunstall and her unborn baby is now facing another death penalty trial for the murder of Tunstall's three children. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Tiffany Hall, who is accused of drugging the three children with cough syrup, drowning them and putting them into a washer and dryer.
Hall, 25, was already facing the death penalty for hitting Tunstall over the head in September 2006, using scissors to cut the fetus from her womb, wrapping her in a shower curtain and dumping her body in a vacant lot.
Investigators say Hall was Tunstall's best friend and her children's babysitter. Several days after killing Tunstall, Hall told the children it was time to take a bath and drowned them one at a time in the same bathtub.
According to court records, Hall tried to claim Tunstall's dead fetus was her own child and made funeral arrangements for the baby. Her boyfriend came home from the Navy to attend the services. It was then Hall told her boyfriend that the baby was not hers.
The boyfriend told police, setting off an investigation that turned up the body of Tunstall and later the bodies of the three children in Tunstall's clothes washer and dryer.
A grand jury indicted Hall in October for the murder of Tunstall and her fetus. She was indicted in April for the deaths of DeMond Tunstall, 7; Ivan Tunstall-Collins, 2; and Jinella Tunstall, 10 months. Prosecutors delayed the indictment for the murder of the children in order to collect more evidence.
Babysitter Charged With Drowning 3 Kids in Bathtub, Hiding Them in Washing Machine
FoxNews.com
Friday, April 20, 2007
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — A baby sitter already accused of killing a pregnant friend was charged Friday with drowning the woman's three children in a bath tub and then hiding the bodies in the family's washing machine and dryer.
Grand jurors indicted Tiffany Hall, 24, on three counts of first-degree murder in the East St. Louis deaths last September of DeMond Tunstall, 7, Ivan Tunstall-Collins, 2, and Jinela Tunstall, 1.
Hall admitted she drowned Ivan Tunstall-Collins and Jinela Tunstall, then found their brother, DeMond Tunstall, Illinois State Police investigator David Bivens testified during a coroner's inquest last week.
"She told DeMond it was time to take a bath, and she drowned him, too," Bivens said.
A coroner's jury ruled the deaths of the children, their mother, Jimella Tunstall, and her fetus to be homicides.
Hall, already charged in the deaths of Tunstall and her fetus, could face the death penalty if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty in those deaths and remained jailed Friday on $5 million bond.
During the coroner's inquest last week, Bivens testified that Hall admitted beating the pregnant Tunstall over the head with a table leg, then cutting her fetus from the womb in a bathtub, where she later drowned Tunstall's three children.
"The senseless taking of the lives of defenseless children must be answered with appropriate punishment," St. Clair County's State's Attorney Robert Haida said Friday.
Panel rules homicide in fetus slaying
By Jim Suhr, Associated Press Writer - USAToday.com
April 11, 2007
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — A baby sitter charged with murder clubbed a pregnant woman in the head repeatedly with a table leg, then cut her fetus from the womb in a bathtub where she later drowned the victim's three young children, an investigator testified Wednesday.
The grisly details in the September slayings of Jimella Tunstall and her family were revealed at a hearing where a coroner's jury, after a few minutes of deliberations, concluded the deaths were homicides.
Tiffany Hall, 24, has been charged with first-degree murder and faces a possible death sentence in the death of Tunstall and with intentional homicide of an unborn child — Tunstall's 7-month-old fetus.
She has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed on $5 million bond. She has not been charged in the drownings of the children, ages 7, 2 and 1, although authorities have said she confessed and led them to the bodies. Prosecutor Robert Haida has said those deaths eventually will be presented to a grand jury for possible charges.
Illinois State Police investigator David Bivens told the coroner's jury that Hall "had been thinking about taking the baby for some time" from Tunstall before going through with it.
Bivens said Hall confessed on videotape that she hit Tunstall twice over the head with a table leg in Hall's mother's East St. Louis house Sept. 15, then bound the woman's hands and feet with duct tape.
When Tunstall tried to wriggle free, Bivens said, Hall hit her again and taped the woman's mouth shut before apparently dragging the unconscious woman to the bathtub. Hall used a scissor-like implement to cut open the woman's womb and remove the fetus, Bivens said. The coroner's jury ruled Tunstall bled to death.
The body of Tunstall was first hidden by Hall in a plastic container in the basement, then dragged outside into high weeds behind the house where it was found, Bivens said.
Later that day, Bivens said, Hall summoned police to an East St. Louis park — just blocks from where Tunstall's body later was found — saying she had given birth to a stillborn child after she said she had been sexually attacked in St. Louis.
At a hospital, Bivens said, Hall refused to let doctors examine her.
Tunstall's body had not been found by Sept. 18, when her children were last seen alive with Hall.
According to Bivens, Hall admitted she drowned 2-year-old Ivan Tunstall-Collins and 1-year-old Jinela Tunstall in the same bathtub where their mother had been slain, then found their 7-year-old brother, DeMond Tunstall.
"She told DeMond it was time to take a bath, and she drowned him, too," Bivens said.
During the baby's Sept. 21 funeral, Bivens testified, Hall confessed to her boyfriend that the baby wasn't his and that she had killed the mother to get it. The boyfriend notified police, who found Tunstall's body and arrested Hall.
The bodies of the children were found in the washer and dryer of Tunstall's apartment, after Hall reportedly directed police there. They had searched the apartment earlier but did not look in the washer and dryer.
A relative of Tunstall's told reporters through tears after Bivens' testimony that she feels sorry for Hall and does not believe the death penalty should be in play.
"I just think she should be in prison the rest of her life to think about what she did," said Regina Kizer, a cousin of Tunstall's. "God's gonna have the upper hand."
A message seeking comment was left Wednesday with James Gomric, one of Hall's attorneys. Hall was not in the courtroom Wednesday.
