Rachel Tunstill, a woman previously convicted of murdering her newborn baby, has been found dead in HMP Styal, Cheshire. She was serving a life sentence for the murder of her daughter, Mia Kelly, whom she killed in 2017 after giving birth alone in her flat in Lancashire. Tunstill stabbed the baby with scissors and disposed of her body in plastic bags.
Tunstill’s initial murder conviction was later quashed, but she was retried and found guilty again. Her recent death in custody is under investigation, with no details on the cause.
During her trials, it was revealed that Tunstill had high-functioning autistic spectrum disorder and claimed she didn’t realize she was having a full-term pregnancy. She searched for ways to end her pregnancy online and researched notorious killers like Mick Philpott. In prison, she reported hearing voices and made unsettling references.
Mr. Justice King described Mia’s murder as a brutal attack on a vulnerable victim. The case raises questions about Tunstill’s motivations and mental state, emphasizing the importance of mental health support and intervention to prevent such tragedies.
