Death penalty call in womb attack murder case

A US prosecutor will seek the death penalty for a woman accused of killing her pregnant friend and the unborn child cut from the victim’s womb.

Tiffany Hall, 24, remains uncharged in the drownings of the pregnant woman’s three children, whose decomposing bodies were found in the washing machine and dryer of the family’s apartment two days after Jimella Tunstall’s body was found.

Illinois investigators have said Hall – a former baby sitter to the children, aged seven, two and one – admitted drowning the children and hiding the bodies.

St Clair County State’s Attorney Robert Haida said today he is preparing to present the case to a grand jury.

He called the death penalty “the appropriate course of action at this time.”

Hall has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child.

Authorities have not publicly discussed a possible motive.

Investigators suspect Tunstall bled to death after being knocked unconscious before her womb was cut open, perhaps with scissors found near her body. The foetus was removed and missing.

Later that day, Hall summoned police, saying she had given birth to a stillborn child. At a hospital, Hall refused to let doctors examine her.

During the baby’s funeral, Hall confessed to her boyfriend that the baby was not his and that she had killed the mother to get it. The boyfriend notified police.

A furious search for Tunstall’s children ended when Hall reportedly directed police to Tunstall’s apartment.