Michigan woman arrested for 2003 homicides of twin newborn sons in Illinois

COOK COUNTY, Ill. (WGN) -- A woman has been charged in the deaths of her newborn twins whose bodies were found in a Stickney Township alley in 2003.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced Saturday that 41-year-old Antoinette Briley of Holland, Michigan, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

The bodies of the infant boys were discovered in trash bins in an alley in the 4800 block of South Latrobe Avenue in Stickney Township in June 2003 by a waste management employee.

An autopsy determined the infants were born alive and died of asphyxiation. Their deaths were ruled homicides. In 2018, Cook County Sheriff's Police reopened the investigation and used DNA from the scene to attempt to identify the birth mother.

• WATCH: Cook County Sheriff's Police Discuss Cold Case where Michigan Woman Charged With 2003 Murder of Her Newborn Twin Sons - Facebook Live

The Chicago Tribune reports detectives who traveled to Holland, Michigan, in July this year watched Briley drop a cigarette to the ground. Its butt was placed into evidence, and matched to the DNA found on the babies.

Thursday, sheriff's police received a lead that Briley was in Cook County, Ill., and took her into custody after a traffic stop in Oak Lawn, according to the Tribune.