A 24-year-old Illinois woman was charged Saturday with first-degree murder in the deaths of her pregnant friend and the unborn child police believe that she cut from the slain woman's womb. Late Saturday, authorities found the bodies of the slain mother's three other children in a washer and dryer in a housing project apartment.
Tiffany Hall (pictured in mug shot) was charged with the death of her long-time friend, Jimella Tunstall, 23.

The two grew up together and attended the same schools. Hall frequently baby-sat Tunstall's children, relatives said.

Police first became involved in the case when Hall told police in Frank Holten Park in East St. Louis that she had gone into labor and gave birth to a stillborn child. At the hospital, the baby showed now signs of trauma and Hall would not let doctors examine her. A later autopsy failed to determine a cause of death for the baby.

A funeral was held for the baby Thursday at which Hall confessed to her boyfriend that she had killed the baby's mother. She was arrested after he reported the confession to police.

An autopsy of Tunstall revealed that she bled to death from a abdominal wound caused by what the coroner believed was scissors. Investigators believe that the seven-months-pregnant Tunstall was knocked unconscious before her fetus was removed from her womb.

DeMond, Ivan and Jinela Tunstall

The arrest of Hall prompted an intensive search for Tunstall's other children -- DeMond Tunstall, 7, Ivan Tunstall-Collins, 2, and Jinela Tunstall, 1 -- who were last seen with Tiffany Hall.

Two days after beginning the citywide search for the missing children, police received a tip and found their bodies at the John DeShields public housing complex.

Hall is being held on $5 million bail. No one has been charged yet in the deaths of the three children.

• UPDATE: Authorities said that Tiffany Hall has confessed to drowning the three children of her best friend Jimella Tunstall, returning them to their apartment complex and hiding their bodies in a washer and dryer. An autopsy confirmed the children were drowned.

See Also:
Woman Accused of Slaying Mother, Fetus
Kids of Woman Slain in Fetus Theft Found Dead