Woman Killed Pregnant Friend, Then Cut Foetus From Her Womb…
Thursday, June 12, 2008Posted in: American crime, people who should die horribly
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.
There are just so many psychotic people in this world.
Surely somebody must have noticed that she wasn’t the full shilling?
Her lawyer mentioned that she had a history of mental problems as well as a low IQ. What the hell does a low IQ have to do with anything?
I hope she dies a horribly painful death. But somehow, even that would be too good for her.
Thanks to AL for sending me the link.
Dawn
June 12
9:11 am
What?! She killed 5 people and they didn’t give her the death penalty?
That’s just unbelievable. Obviously, the prosecutor was the one who offered her the deal.
This is so sad for the family.
Ghetto Diva
June 12
12:14 pm
I don’t even know what to say. I’m in shock. In complete shock. Okay, if my best friend came to my house and told my husband that she wanted to take the kids and drive my car, my hubby would’ve told her HELL NO! But that’s just me.
Second, being locked up for the rest of her life is too Good for her.
Emma Petersen
June 12
12:33 pm
Le sigh. There is no excuse for what she did. She could have had an I.Q. of 2 and it still wouldn’t have been a defense enough.
This was supposed to be the victim’s friend? Has the definition of friendship changed without my knowledge?
Dorothy Mantooth
June 12
1:35 pm
In some states (actually, now that I think of it, I believe it’s in all states and the Supreme Court made this ruling several years back, but I’m too lazy to Google) you cannot be given the death penalty if you are found to be mentally retarded–IQ under 70.
The implication being, she was literally incapable of understanding the consequences of her actions, like a small child who squeezed a baby chick to death thinking it would be able to get back up and walk around again after a few minutes.
(I’m not condoning this point of view in this case, just stating the ruling as I recall it.)
DS
June 12
1:40 pm
There seems to be some objection in a lot of modern societies to imposing the death penalty on the insane or the mentally retarded. Illinois also has had a problem with putting people on death row who shouldn’t be there– check out the innocence project, so juries may be less likely to impose the penalty.
So they might just be agreeing to what would have been the outcome anyway without all the expense of a trial plus appeals.
Mari
June 12
1:46 pm
This brought tears to my eyes. So sad. Horrible. I can’t believe some people do the things they do.
Shiloh Walker
June 12
2:04 pm
I think I’m going to puke.
Annmarie
June 12
2:07 pm
She doesn’t deserve to ever again see the light of day.
Tuscan Capo
June 12
2:07 pm
Anyone who’d do things like that is pure evil. I hate to say it as I am reserved about the death penalty, but in a case like this such a criminal mind is not one society needs to protect. It goes without saying that the protection of other children should be the first priority in determining a penalty. Think about it; if she gets out, who might be next?
And when you assess the crimes, it seems it’d take a person of at least -the very least- average intelligence to plan and carry out such scenarios.
AztecLady
June 12
2:42 pm
She was found to be capable to stand trial and, if the article is to be believed, she’s well over the 70IQ marker. And since she lied to get those innocent babies, and lied about the foetus, and disposed of the mother’s body… sorry, she WAS thinking about the consequences of her actions, ergo she knew what she was doing was wrong, ergo she should bloody pay for taking those innocent lives.
In this, I’m very very black and white.
Eve Vaughn
June 12
5:03 pm
Those poor babies.
Jenns
June 12
5:40 pm
Absolutely horrific. There’s just … I can’t think of any words. I feel sick to my stomach.
Let’s just hope that the life without parole sentence remains just that. Someone else said it here (Annmarie, I think?) and it’s true – she doesn’t deserve to see the light of day.
Chantal
June 12
8:54 pm
She even looks evil.
I say tie her to a chair and let the friends and family of the woman and babies she murdered do what they want to her.
vanessa jaye
June 13
1:09 am
I can’t wrap my mind around this story. How incredibly evil.
Ann Bruce
June 13
2:44 am
I’m having some real issues with the father. Why would he give up his children to some woman?!? With the mother dead, wouldn’t the father know he should have custody of the children? (I’m making the assumption that they were separated.)
AztecLady
June 13
3:14 am
Ann, my understanding is that they were separated, and he didn’t know the mother was dead–perhaps it was his turn to have the children, if they had some joint custody or visitation agreement?–and that the killer told him that her friend, the mother, had sent her to pick up the car and the children. How could he know that the woman he thought a friend of the mother if his children would harm them?
Cinnamon
June 13
8:46 pm
What a despicable person! I cannot agree with the reader who says she looks evil, but her actions are, no doubt about it, the very essence of evil. I hope she never sees the outside of a prison cell.
Shirley
June 19
4:22 am
Absolutely, absolutely, ditto.
If she had such a low IQ that she could slaughter a pregnant woman and all of her children, my two cents is she had too low an IQ to live on her own, free, in society. I wonder about the father too. Unless he was unaware of the mother’s death at that time, he should be locked up as well.
And I don’t think there is anything heinous enough to punish this woman for her crimes. Not drawing and quartering, not the rack, not being eviscerated.