Psych exam ordered for suspect accused of killing pregnant friend, removing fetus

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- A woman accused of slaying a pregnant friend and the fetus cut from her womb was ordered Monday to undergo psychiatric testing as authorities investigate her possible role in the drownings of the dead woman's three children found in a washer and dryer.

During Tiffany Hall's arraignment on charges she killed Jimella Tunstall and her unborn child, a St. Clair County judge entered not guilty pleas on her behalf, appointed a public defender and ordered that she remain jailed on $5 million bond.

At a public defender's request, Judge Heinz Rudolf also insisted Hall be isolated from other inmates for her safety, though no known threats had been made against her.

Prosecutors say Hall killed 23-year-old Tunstall, who was about seven months pregnant, and her fetus on or about Sept. 15. It was three days later that Tunstall's children were last seen with Hall, police say.

Hours after she was charged Saturday with killing Tunstall and her baby, investigators say she directed police to the Tunstall family's apartment, where the bodies of the children -- ages 7, 2 and 1 -- were found decomposing in the washing machine and dryer.

Jailed on bond

Hall has not been charged in those deaths, and given that Hall is jailed on a significant bond and "not going anywhere soon" St. Clair County's prosecutor Robert Haida says he's in no rush to file additional charges. He added that he planned to present the matter to a grand jury Oct. 6.

He declined to discuss a possible motive in the slayings, saying doing so would involve airing facts of the case.

Randy Kelley, chief of the county's public defender's office, said after Hall's arraignment that he would meet with her later that day and would ask this week that her bond be reduced.

Kelley, who stood in as Hall's counsel during Monday's brief court hearing, said the psychiatric testing he requested for the woman should gauge her mental fitness and "whether she was sane at the time" she allegedly killed Tunstall and her fetus.

Each charge Hall faces -- first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child -- carry a penalty of 20 to 60 years or life in prison. The murder count could be punishable by the death penalty, though Haida said over the weekend he hasn't decided if he would pursue that.

Hall appeared sullen on the television monitor and talked only when prompted by the judge. When Rudolf asked if she planned to hire a private attorney or needed a public defender, she replied simply, "I don't know." When asked if she had any questions, she said, "No."

On Sept. 15, Hall summoned police to a park, saying she had given birth to a stillborn child, St. Clair County deputy coroner Ace Hart said. She was arrested after she told her boyfriend during the baby's funeral that the baby wasn't his and that she had killed the mother to get it, authorities said.

Tunstall's body was found Thursday, and authorities began a furious search for her children.

Authorities had visited Tunstall's apartment Friday but noticed nothing amiss while looking for photographs of the children for the media, Hart said, understanding why the children's bodies were overlooked then. "Who would be looking in the washer and dryer?"

Police made that gruesome discovery Saturday night, finding 7-year-old DeMond Tunstall in the dryer and the younger two children -- 2-year-old Ivan Tunstall-Collins and 1-year-old Jinela Tunstall -- in the washer. Two of the children were found nude, the third wearing only underpants, Hart said.

Hall told investigators she drowned the children, and preliminary autopsy findings support that, Hart said. Pending toxicology tests should determine if the youths were poisoned or drugged, he said.

An autopsy showed that Jimella Tunstall bled to death after sustaining an abdominal wound caused by a sharp object, believed to be scissors, Hart said. Authorities believe her womb was cut open after she was knocked unconscious.

In the days afterward, Hall went about everyday life, chatting with her daughter's elementary school teacher and helping her daughter with homework, Hall's mother, Beverly Cruise, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for Monday's editions.

Relatives say Tunstall grew up with Hall and let her baby-sit her children. An investigator has said Hall's own two children are "safe and sound."

The funeral for Tunstall and her children has been set for noon Friday at Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church in East St. Louis.