DNA evidence ties mom to 2003 deaths of twin babies found in trash, Illinois cops say

Seventeen years after twin babies were found dead in the trash, police in Illinois used the latest DNA technology to help make an arrest in the cold case.

The same technology used to arrest the Golden State Killer in 2018 was used to find Antoinette Briley, the mother of the newborn boys found in June 2003, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

Police tracked Briley in Holland, Michigan, and found a discarded item with her DNA that matched that of the victims, said Chief of Public Safety Leo Schmitz. Briley was taken into custody Thursday and admitted to the “birth, death and disposal” of the twin boys, Schmitz said.

“I am proud of the work our detectives did, how they stayed on this,” Schmitz said in a news briefing Saturday. “A murder happened 17 years ago — we don’t ever give up. These detectives took it upon themselves to use today’s technology, things they’ve got today, to get the job done and they did a great job.”

A waste management worker found the boys in 2003 while unloading trash, according to Schmitz. He said the sheriff’s office “felt a void” because they were unable to solve the case at the time despite multiple interviews with people in the area.

An autopsy revealed the twins were born alive and died from asphyxiation, Schmitz said, but police were unable to determine who their mother was at the time.

Detective Ginny Georgantas reopened the case in 2018 following the arrest of Joseph DeAngelo in the Golden State Killer case. She worked with genetic genealogy company Parabon NanoLabs to uncover evidence in the case. Schmitz said a “breakthrough” led them to Briley.

“I’m happy there’s closure for the twins,” Georgantas told reporters. “There was nobody fighting for them.”

Briley, who has a daughter, did not have any felony arrests before being charged with two counts of murder Friday, Schmitz said.

Deputy Chief of Investigations Sean Gleason said Briley was “distraught and emotional” when she was arrested.

“We had a tragedy. I can’t describe it more succinct,” Gleason said. “A tragedy of two newborn infants dumped in a trash can, and no one comes forward. We worked as hard as we could to get to this point.”

The sheriff’s office did not disclose a motive in the killings.

This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 3:10 PM.