Mother killed her 4 daughters, police believe

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A mother found in her home with the decomposing bodies of four girls was charged Thursday with murder after reportedly telling investigators that the children were possessed by demons and died in their sleep.

Banita Jacks, 33, was charged with felony 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 and believed to all be Ms. Jacks' daughters — were found Wednesday when deputy U.S. 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.

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

Ms. Jacks appeared in court in a white jump suit, and court was recessed briefly before a judge could rule on her detention. Her lawyer argued that she should be released to the custody of an adult relative pending trial. Prosecutors argued that she should be held without bond.

The charging documents identify the children as Brittany Jacks, 17; Tatiana Jacks, 11; N'kia 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 Tatiana and N'kia, and evidence of blunt force injury to the head of Aja and binding on her neck, according to the documents.

Court records in Charles County, Md., show that Ms. Jacks filed paternity suits against three men, two of which were successful. In one case, Norman Penn Jr., whose most recent address is in Glen Burnie, is named the father of Brittany. In another case, Kevin Stoddard, whose most recent address is listed in Prince George's County, acknowledged he is the father of Tatiana.

The county court records indicated that both men failed to pay required child support. Mr. Penn was convicted of criminal contempt and received a suspended jail sentence. Records also show that in 2004, lenders foreclosed on a Waldorf townhome that Ms. Jacks had purchased three years earlier.

The home where the bodies were found is in one of the city's poorest, most violent neighbourhoods. The block is lined by virtually identical apartment houses near Bolling Air Force Base. About one-third of the city's homicides last year occurred in the area, according to preliminary police statistics.

City officials were scrambling to understand how four children could have been dead for at least two weeks without anyone knowing.

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

“We are going to investigate every single contact that this family has had with the government, with people who are paid to look out for the welfare of children, and we will come back with a full report,” Mr. Fenty said.

Nona Richardson, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Public Charter School Board, said Ms. Jacks' three younger daughters attended the Meridian Public Charter School in Washington consistently until March 2007.

When they stopped showing up, Ms. Richardson said the school immediately tried to contact the mother by mail and telephone. Officials finally went to the woman's home and the woman told a school official that she wanted to withdraw the children and home-school them. They were officially withdrawn in mid-March 2007.

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  1. Ottawa Mens Centre.com, from Ottawa, Canada wrote: Mentally Illness is a 'taboo' word in Ontario Family Court. Any intelligent mentally ill woman suffering hallucinations such as voices talking to her telling her to get out of an aircraft in flight can simply go to the nearest 'one stop divorce shop' aka Canadian Man Hater's Association and get 'help', not for the mental illness but to ensure that the child never gets to see the father. It's really simply, she simply says 'he is mentally ill', 'he needs a parenting course' 'he needs a mental health assessment. Ontario family courts are a cess pool of hatred towards men. Our judges treat any allegation of a mentally ill women as a false complaint, how dare a man suggest that a woman is mentally ill, that’s generally good enough reason to make sure he never sees his child again. Take Justice Denis Power of Ottawa, he did not like reading such an allegation and, issued a restraining order to banish the father from Kingston Ontario, for ever, simply to make sure he could not even litigate the issue. Justice Denis Power then issued an order for costs, a draconian order that he knew could not be met knowing full well that his order would mean that the child would never see the father again. Justice Denis Power also employs a orders that do 'indirectly' what is prohibited 'directly'. Just how the hell did such a person ever get to be appointed to the bench and just why is it that his activities do not clang warning bells with his superiors. Probably because they are just as corrupt and possessed with an equal pathological hatred that is applied against the male gender in a form of apartheid. It's sickening, its not just the promotion of hatred, its the legal enforcement of hatred towards fathers, is also called a flagrant abuse of judicial authority. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and Justice Denis Power is just one example of how judgitis and power ferments itself and oozes out of the court room walls in the form of hatred. www.OttawaMensCentre.com

 

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