In a resolution to a cold case that dates back two decades, Antoinette Briley, a 44-year-old Michigan resident, has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars for the murder of her twin newborns. On Tuesday, the Cook County Sheriff's Office reported that Briley pleaded guilty to the charges presented against her. The infants, discovered by a Waste Management employee in 2003, were discarded in a Stickney Township trash bin, their deaths resulting from asphyxiation, the Cook County medical examiner's office determined.
Though the case went cold for years, the Cook County sheriff's police detectives were to eventually reopen the investigation in 2018, riding on the back of advancements in genetic genealogy technologies. This breakthrough follows a notable success in the field, where similar methods aided in the identification of the Golden State Killer in California. Briley emerged as a probable birth mother through her DNA, which "was 'strongly associated' with the babies' DNA," according to a statement obtained by ABC7 Chicago.
The arrest came in 2020 after detectives managed to retrieve a cigarette butt that Briley had used in Michigan, linking her directly to the crime scene. In a report by the Chicago Sun-Times, after her arrest, Briley admitted to her involvement in the twins' deaths and how she disposed of their bodies.
Details of the harrowing day emerged as Briley recounted to detectives how the events unfolded. According to the Chicago Sun-Times interview, she reportedly said that she'd intentionally changed her mind while driving to a hospital, after the clandestine birth at her grandfather's house. Failing to fully grasp the irreversible impact of her actions, Briley is quoted saying she wishes she could take the whole day back.
The sentencing, occurring more than 20 years following the tragic incident, closes a chapter on a long-unsolved case amid a growing number of cold cases to be illuminated by genetic genealogy. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart shared that after pleading guilty, Briley received a 20-year sentence for the double infanticide, bringing an end to an enigmatic and somber case from Chicago's past.
