COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS – A Michigan woman has been charged with murder in the 2003 deaths of her twin newborn sons, Illinois law enforcement officers said.
Antoinette Briley, 41, of Holland, was charged Saturday, Dec. 5, with two counts of first-degree murder, according to Leo Schmitz, Cook County Sheriff’s Office chief of public safety. Police learned Briley was in Cook County on Thursday, Dec. 3, and arrested her after conducted a traffic stop in Oak Lawn, Schmitz said.
The case began on June 6, 2003, when a Waste Management employee found the bodies of the two infants while emptying trash bins in Stickney Township, Illinois, Schmitz said. At the time, investigators ruled the victims were born alive and died of asphyxiation, and their deaths were ruled homicides, Schmitz said.
The case remained unsolved until 2018, when investigators were able to utilize DNA evidence recovered from the scene and the latest technological developments in genetic genealogy to identify Briley as the birth mother, Schmitz said.
Detectives then traveled to Michigan, where they found Briley in Holland and watched her drop a cigarette to the ground, according to the Chicago Tribune. The cigarette butt was placed into evidence and matched both the DNA evidence on the babies and was consistent with coming from Briley, the Tribune reports.
“I am proud of the work our detectives did, how they stayed on this,” Schmitz said. “A murder happened 17 years ago, but we don’t ever give up. The detectives took it upon themselves to use today’s technology to get it done, and they did a great job.”
Briley is being held on $15,000 bond. Schmitz commended the work of the FBI, Illinois State Police, Cook County State’s Attorney’s office and Michigan State Police for their work on the investigation.
Briley will be in court next week in Bridgeview, Illinois.
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