COOK COUNTY, Ill. — A woman has been charged in the 2003 death of her newborn twins whose bodies were found in a Stickney Township alley.

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.  A waste management employee was emptying bins and made the discovery.

According to authorities, an autopsy determined the infants were born alive and died of asphyxiation. Their deaths were ruled homicides and an investigation followed but the case remained unsolved.

In 2018, Cook County Sheriff’s Police reopened the investigation and used DNA from the scene to attempt to identify the birth mother.

According to a statement from sheriff’s police, investigators used genealogy research to identify Briley as a potential birth mother.  Investigators then traveled to Holland and “obtained a discarded item containing Briley’s DNA.”

The DNA was a match, the sheriff’s police said.

“I am proud of the work our detectives did, how they stayed on this,” Chief of Public Safety Leo Schmidz said. “The murder happened 17 years ago. You don’t ever give up.”

Briley was taken into custody Thursday during a traffic stop in Oak Lawn. She was charged Friday.

Briley is due in court Saturday.