MO-3 Siblings Missing After Murder Of Pregnant Mother

[felder]

Police Search For 3 Siblings, Last Seen With Murder Suspect
created: 9/21/2006 7:02:14 PM
updated: 9/22/2006 7:41:27 AM

(KSDK) - Police sources said a child was cut from the womb of a woman whose body was found behind an East St. Louis home Thursday. Sources say the victim's cousin is considered a suspect in the murder.

A suspect was taken into custody late Thursday night.

Friday morning police announced they were looking for three children last seen with the suspect. They are searching part of Frank Holten State Park for the children.

The missing children are 7 year old DeMond, 3 year old Ivan and 2 year old Jinela. The suspect is not the mother of the missing kids.

More at link.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=104091

[reb]

oh yeah,, she's gonna get far. not only a premature fetus in her possession, but 3 more kids too?? and what the hell is it with missouri, anyway?? seems to be the in thing there nowadays,, cutting babies from their mother's wombs. is it something in the water...???

[2sisters]

How horrible. I can only assume the baby died from the amatuer c section or from lack of medical care? it didn't say in the article. Either weas this woman is responsible for the murder of the mom and baby.

[Sunshine]

oh yeah,, she's gonna get far. not only a premature fetus in her possession, but 3 more kids too?? and what the hell is it with missouri, anyway?? seems to be the in thing there nowadays,, cutting babies from their mother's wombs. is it something in the water...???

This happened in East St. Louis, Illinois. It's across the river from St. Louis, MO, in a very bad area.

[christine2448]

Just saw this in CNN.com...HOLY CRAP! Where are these children? I haven't even read anything yet except the childrens names and ages.......Did they have enough info for Amber Alert????

[christine2448]

OMG, it was her cousin!!!! Who killed her and her baby!!!!:eek: :eek: :eek: She is in custody, but where are the kids????


Also said in the intial article posted

Police did not issue an Amber Alert for the children.

[WhiteWolf]

What a sick b*tch! I sure hope the cousin didn't kill the pregnant mother AND the three other children in order to have a fetus to prove to her boyfriend she was pregnant. SICK!

[christine2448]

What a sick b*tch! I sure hope the cousin didn't kill the pregnant mother AND the three other children in order to have a fetus to prove to her boyfriend she was pregnant. SICK!
I hope you are right! I hope they are just with someone else and haven't even realized what is going on...the someone else I mean. I think the children where with her, dear God, when she killed the mom.

Praying for all involved!

[SewingDeb]

3 Siblings Missing After Murder Of Pregnant Mother

(KSDK) - Police have identified the pregnant woman who was murdered, and whose child was cut from her womb, as 23-year-old Jamila Tunstall.

Police are searching for three children who have been missing since Monday, when they were last seen with the victim's cousin, who police have in custody.

The missing children are 7-year-old Demond Tunstall, 2-year-old Ivan Tunstall-Collins, and 1-year-old Jenilla Tunstall.

Police also say the victim's cousin does have two children, and that both of those children are safe.

The body of Jamila Tunstall was found behind an East St. Louis home Thursday.

An autopsy showed she died from the abdominal wound, from which the coroner's office says her unborn baby was taken.

A woman who went to school with the victim told NewsChannel 5 she had a tough home life growing up, and that she was fighting to hold onto her children, who were in and out of the custody of the state.

The victim's cousin, who is linked to the murder, was taken into custody for questioning around 11:40 Thursday night.

Friday, police were searching several locations in the metro east, including part of Frank Holten State Park for the children.

Police did not issue an AMBER Alert for the children, but said they are concerned because the children are missing and were last seen with a woman now accused of killing her cousin and cutting her cousin's child from her womb.

http://ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=104091

[Trino]

Friday, police were searching several locations in the metro east, including part of Frank Holten State Park for the children.

I wonder if she just let the children off somewhere. Wouldn't it seem like someone should have found them by now?

Who is/are the father(s) of these children? There's no mention of a male, nor is there a mention of a father for the children of the culprit who did this terrible crime.

[Beyond Belief]

OMG

Fox just said their bodies were found in a dryer at an apartment building.

OMG
OMG

[Salsa]

OMG

Fox just said their bodies were found in a dryer at an apartment building.

OMG
OMG

:( :( I was walking into the living room and thought that was what I heard, but came here to check if I heard right. OMG!!!!!

[Pinkhammer]

Just when you think you have heard the absolutely worst.

There are no words.

[Bobbisangel]

Oh my gosh. This whole story is just unbelievable. How could anyone do something like this to a whole family? What an evil demented cousin. I wonder if the cousin was going to sell the baby to someone that was willing to pay big bucks or something. They haven't found the baby? I also wonder if the cousin is in this alone?

They found those little kids in a dryer? I don't even want to think about how they must have died. What in the world makes a person do something so horrible? I hope that cousin gets the death penalty. I can't imagine why she/he wouldn't. Those poor little kids and that poor mom.

[SewingDeb]

My heart just aches for this family. The woman who did this (assuming she also killed the children) has been charged with 1st Degree Murder.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060924/ap_on_re_us/woman_slain

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.

[mattsmom]

Originally posted by Sewing Deb

The baby was buried Thursday as Taylor Horn

I hope that they can quickly identify him as Jimella Tunstall's child so that the family can have one funeral for all 4 children.

5 deaths and many more lives ruined because of this. I can only begin to imagine the grief this family feels.

[Trino]

To kill a mother, a fetus, 3 children, then stuff them into a dryer? How would she think she would not be caught? Obviously, the woman who did this is mentally deranged.

Can you also imagine how unnerved her sailor boyfriend must be right now? The woman who is charged told him the fetus was his, then told him the truth. The man must be shaking in his boots that she didn't try to take him out, too. Thank God he went to authorities before she tried something else.

[Salsa]

Can you also imagine how unnerved her sailor boyfriend must be right now? The woman who is charged told him the fetus was his, then told him the truth. The man must be shaking in his boots that she didn't try to take him out, too. Thank God he went to authorities before she tried something else.

No kidding....and she also had two children of her own!!!! OMG!

Hall has two children of her own. Koehler said they are "safe and sound."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/09/24/killed.fetus.ap/index.html

[Trino]

The two women were described as close as sister. Do you suppose it could have been jealousy?

Again, where are the fathers of these kids?

[Goodwin]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14984707/

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - 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.

[mattsmom]

I'll never understand how she could do that to her friend and children she had cared for!?? I think the death penalty is on the table unless she is mentally unstable. She has killed 5 people, ruined (or ended) her own life and shattered the lives of at least 2 families. I just don't understand such evil.

[Bobbisangel]

I'll never understand why this all happened. The pregnant mother was only 7 months along. Did that killer really think that she could just cut the baby out with a pair of scissors and it would live? Why murder the other children? That woman can't be all there. No one in their right mind would even think of doing something like this....and to her best friend and 3 little kids that she has probably known all of their lives and who probably trusted her. She drown those little kids.

Someone will try to get her to plead insanity. In all honesty she has to be insane or just so full of evil that it just took over. Glad I don't have friends like that!