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D.C. mom held; 4 kids dead for months, she says

By Times Wires
Published January 11, 2008

WASHINGTON - A Washington mother charged Thursday with killing her four daughters and living with their decomposing bodies said they died before Sept. 5, but she failed to alert authorities because she did not trust police, according to court records.

Banita Jacks, 33, told investigators that she didn't feed her daughters "for a substantial period of time," before they died, but she denied killing them.

"She thought if she notified emergency personnel, it would cause her more problems," the court papers read. She told police that since May, nobody except she and the children were in the southeast Washington apartment.

The bodies of the girls, 5 to 17 years old, were found Wednesday when deputy U.S. marshals served an eviction notice.

"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.

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

She said the girls died before her electricity was cut off of Sept. 5, the charging papers show. Police said they believe the children were killed sometime between May and September.

Jacks did not speak during the hearing. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Karen Howze ordered her held without bond.

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

[Last modified January 11, 2008, 01:34:44]