Michigan woman admits to dumping, killing her newborn twins in Stickney trash bin more than 20 years ago

COOK COUNTY (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A Michigan woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2003 murders of her newborn twin sons in Cook County. A case that was reopened 15 years later.

Antionette Briley admitted she gave birth to the twin boys and then put them in a dumpster in Stickney Township.  Their deaths were ruled homicides.

Autopsies revealed they were born alive and died of asphyxiation. The case was reopened in 2018, at the request of Cook County Sheriff’s Detective Ginny Georgantas, who had studied genetic genealogy.

Her research ultimately led to the arrest of Briley in 2020.

“As part of the investigation, Sheriff’s police detectives traveled to Holland, Michigan and obtained discarded items from Briley’s DNA, which was then matched to the DNA from the victims,” said Cook County Sheriff’s Chief Leo Schmitz said in 2020.

Investigators said Briley, who’s now  44, gave birth to the twins in a bathtub at her grandfather’s home.

She said she was initially going to take them to a hospital. But, she decided to put them in a trash bin, thinking, “No one would ever have to know.” Briley said she regretted that.

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