Mum 'kept dead girls for months'*

January 11, 2008 07:18pm
Article from: The Australian

A MOTHER found in her Washington DC home with the decomposing bodies of
her four daughters has been charged with murder.
She reportedly told US investigators that the children were possessed by
demons and died in their sleep.

Banita Jacks, 33, was charged today with four counts of first-degree
murder and appeared in District of Columbia Superior Court.

She told police that the deaths occurred before a utility turned off her
electricity, which prosecutors said was in September 2007, according to
charging documents.

The bodies of the girls - ages 5 to 17 - were found yesterday when
deputy US marshals served an eviction notice at the apartment in
southeast Washington.

"I don't think anyone in the city can remember a case involving this
many young people who have died in such a tragic way," Mayor Adrian
Fenty said.

Jacks told investigators that the children were possessed by demons and
began dying in their sleep, one by one, within a seven-day period,
documents say. She also said she had not fed her children for a
substantial time before their deaths.

Medical examiner Dr Marie-Lydie Pierre-Louis said the bodies were in the
apartment more than 15 days, "based on the insects that were found there."

Jacks could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Jacks appeared in court in a white tracksuit and sandals. She did not
speak during the hearing.

Superior Court Magistrate Judge Karen Howze ordered her held without
bond. Her lawyers had argued that she should be released to the custody
of an adult relative pending trial.

The charging documents identify the children as Brittany Jacks, 17;
Tatianna Jacks, 11; N'Kiah Fogle, 6; and Aja Fogle, 5.

Although autopsies are incomplete, the medical examiner's office
reported that there was evidence that Brittany had been stabbed, the
charging documents state.

There was evidence of binding on the necks of the Tatianna and N'Kiah,
and evidence of blunt force injury to the head of Aja and binding on her
neck, according to the documents.

City officials were scrambling to understand how four children could
have been dead for so long without anyone knowing.

The mayor said today that officials were working to determine what other
contacts city agencies had with the family.