Witness: DC mother let kids, 3 and 4, smoke pot

[samanthajane13]

WASHINGTON – A witness in the trial of a woman accused of killing her four daughters says the parents allowed two of the girls to smoke marijuana at the ages of 3 and 4.

LaShawn Ragland, a friend of Banita Jacks' boyfriend, testified in Jacks' murder trial on Monday.

Ragland told prosecutors that she once observed Jacks and boyfriend Nathaniel Fogle Jr. laughing as the two youngest girls, N'Kiah and Aja, smoked marijuana.

Fogle, who died in 2007, was their father.

U.S. Marshals discovered the four girls' decomposing bodies in January 2008 while serving an eviction in Jacks' southeast D.C. home.

Jacks has pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated first-degree murder.

___

Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090721/ap_on_re_us/us_bodies_found

[JLette]

WASHINGTON – A witness in the trial of a woman accused of killing her four daughters says the parents allowed two of the girls to smoke marijuana at the ages of 3 and 4.

LaShawn Ragland, a friend of Banita Jacks' boyfriend, testified in Jacks' murder trial on Monday.

Ragland told prosecutors that she once observed Jacks and boyfriend Nathaniel Fogle Jr. laughing as the two youngest girls, N'Kiah and Aja, smoked marijuana.

Fogle, who died in 2007, was their father.

U.S. Marshals discovered the four girls' decomposing bodies in January 2008 while serving an eviction in Jacks' southeast D.C. home.

Jacks has pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated first-degree murder.

___

Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090721/ap_on_re_us/us_bodies_found

how did the children die? has that been released yet?

[samanthajane13]

Here's more info...

http://www.boards.crimelibrary.com/showthread.php?t=293861&highlight=Banita+Jacks

I'll be looking for even more.

[samanthajane13]

Well-there's TONS on the web...she claims the kids were possessed.

Get your tin-foil hat on before you read this stuff...

[samanthajane13]

Mother charged in grisly deaths of her four children
updated 11:39 a.m. EST, Fri January 11, 2008

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A mother suspected of killing her four children, whose decomposing bodies were found in her home, told police they were possessed by demons, according to court records.

Banita Jacks, 33, is charged with three counts of felony murder and one count of first-degree murder while armed.

The victims, who range in age from 5 to 17 years, are thought to be her daughters. Their bodies were found when U.S. marshals served an eviction notice at Jacks' apartment in southeast Washington, D.C.

Court documents say Jacks identified the victims as her daughters Brittany Jacks, 17; Tatianna Jacks, 11; N'kiah Fogle, 6; and Aja Fogle, 5.

Earlier Thursday, Mayor Adrian Fenty said the bodies' decomposition has hindered their identification, although they were believed to be Jacks' children.

Marie Pierre-Louis, Washington's chief medical examiner, said all four of the girls had been dead for at least 15 days.

Jacks is being held without bail. Her next court appearance is scheduled for February 11. If convicted, she could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Jacks told police that her daughters were possessed by demons and that each died in her sleep during a seven- to 10-day period, court documents said. Aja died first, she told police, then N'kiah, Tatianna and Brittany.

"She said that as the first three younger children died, she placed them side by side in the room in which they died," according to court documents.

She reported that all the deaths occurred sometime before the electricity in her house was disconnected, which records show was September 5, 2007, documents said.

Jacks said she never tried to call authorities to remove the bodies "because she didn't trust either agency and because she thought if she notified emergency personnel, that would cause her more problems," the documents said.

She also said she had not fed her daughters food "for a substantial period of time prior to their deaths."

No one besides herself or the children had been in the home since May 2007, Jacks said.

Pierre-Louis ruled the deaths homicides, according to a court document.

Preliminary findings are that Brittany was stabbed to death and that Aja died from blunt-force impact to the back of her head and possible ligature strangulation.

Both Tatianna and N'kiah also had "apparent ligature evidence" on their necks that was "somewhat more defined than that noted on Aja Fogle's neck," court documents said.

However, the documents said, further tests are needed to confirm the causes of the deaths.

All four children were wearing white T-shirts and were discovered in unfurnished bedrooms -- three in one and a fourth in another, the documents said.

"What appeared to be a metal steak knife" was found next to the fourth. Also, the fourth body was found in a bedroom with hardwood floors, and a T-shirt with duct tape was found at the bottom of the bedroom door, filling the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door when it was closed.

A witness told police they saw Jacks treat Brittany differently from her other children, sometimes withholding food from her while feeding the others, court documents said.

In addition, the witness said Jacks once drove Brittany to Jacks' mother's home in Waldorf, Maryland, and left her there. Jacks' mother was not home, the witness said, and Brittany was left on the porch unattended for more than 10 hours.

City officials are trying to determine how the children could have been dead for at least two weeks without anyone noticing their absence. Fenty said the city had determined that Jacks' children were "in and out of the public school system" and that the child welfare caseworkers and the metropolitan police had each had at least "one contact" with the family.

"There may be other contacts with the government ... in the case of the Jacks family," he said.

He did not divulge further details.

"Somebody should have known that these young people were not in school or someplace," Councilman Marion Barry said Wednesday. The former Washington mayor represents the ward in which the bodies were found.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/10/bodies.found/

[samanthajane13]

Banita Jacks Claims Four Dead Daughters Were "Possessed"

Atlanta, GA 1/11/2008 04:57 PM GMT (FINDITT)



Banita Jacks, the Washington, D.C. woman who was charged with murder after her four daughters were found decomposed in her house, said that her daughters were "possessed by demons".

According to the Washington Post, the girls were dead for at least four months before U.S. Marshals found the bodies. The girls, ages 5, 6, 11 and 17, could have died as early as May based on the condition and composition of their bodies.

U.S. Marshals found the bodies Wednesday when they came to the residence to serve an ordinary eviction notice. The mother, Banita Jacks, lived in the desolate two-story brick house with the bodies upstairs. The house had its electricity cut off in September.

Authorities said that Jacks has denied killing the children and said they died in their sleep. Prosecutors said evidence shows otherwise. Brittany Jacks, 17, had three puncture wounds consistent with a stabbing near the neck, they said. Tatianna Jacks, 11, and N'Kiah Fogle, 6, had marks suggesting they were strangled. Aja Fogle, 5, had less-pronounced marks consistent with strangling and signs of blunt-force trauma to the back of her head.

Troubles spiraled in February when Nathaniel Fogle Jr., the father of two of the girls, died of cancer. Soon after his death, Jacks cleared the first floor of furniture, and she grew increasingly distant. She became to live a hermitic lifestyle, where she would not call friends and relatives nor answer the door to her home when others came to visit.

The oldest girl, a student at Booker T. Washington Public Charter School, stopped attending classes months ago. The other girls attended Meridian Public Charter School in Northwest Washington until March, when Jacks withdrew them, saying she planned to home-school them.

"She said that the children began dying in their sleep, one at a time, all within a seven- to 10-day period," the charging documents stated. "She said that as the first three younger children died, she placed them side by side in the room in which they died."

Prosecutors also quoted Jacks as saying that she had not fed the children for a substantial period of time before they died.

Outside the courthouse, Tawana Crump who said she spent the day with Jacks in a cellblock area, told reporters that other prisoners asked Jacks if she had killed the children, and she told them yes.


http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=32931&cat=14

[samanthajane13]

D.C. Woman: "Demons" Possessed Slain Girls
Mother Says Children Died In Their Sleep; Girls May Have Been Starved, Stabbed, Strangled

(CBS/AP) A mother found in her home with the decomposing bodies of her four daughters 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 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.

Around 30 members of Banita Jacks's family and friends attended Thursday evening's hearing. They left the courthouse without comment, reports CBS News affiliate WUSA-TV in Washington.

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

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 jump suit and sandals. She did not speak during the hearing. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Karen Howze ordered her held without bond. Her attorneys had argued that she should be released to the custody of an adult relative pending trial.

"I don't know how many bodies we need before we determine that Ms. Jacks is a danger to the community," said Deborah Sines, assistant U.S. attorney.

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.

When the deputies went to the home Wednesday, Jacks tried to block them from the second floor, according to the charging documents.

Once inside, marshals found religious writings on the walls, authorities said, according to the Washington Post.

One of the deputies walked around her and spotted the bodies of the three younger children on the floor of an unfurnished bedroom. He then opened the door to another bedroom and found Brittany's body, also on the floor of a bare room.

The three children were dressed in white T-shirts, the documents said.

Brittany's body was naked but was partially covered by a white T-shirt. An object that appeared to be a steak knife lay nearby, and there was a dried maroon liquid around the body, according to the documents.

Jacks graduated from Aaron's Academy of Beauty in Waldorf in August 2005 with a license to practice cosmetology, said Stacy Lynch, the school's director. She described Jacks as a friendly woman, a good student and a good mother.

"She loved her children," said Lynch. "When you saw Banita outside of school, you saw the girls ... they were always together."

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

The county court records indicated that both men failed to pay required child support. 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 Jacks had purchased three years earlier.

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

Mayor Adrian Fenty 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," Fenty said.

Several relatives stopped by the house to visit or to deliver child support checks, but Jacks didn't answer the door. Jacks sometimes telephoned after the visits and reported that everything was under control, they said, according to the Washington Post.

"Sometimes she wouldn't answer the door," recalled Tywana Richardson, godmother to the two youngest girls, who said she tried to stay in touch with the family after Fogle's death. "No one would answer the door. That happened a lot. . . . When I kept going and she wasn't there, I figured she had upped and moved."

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

When they stopped showing up, 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.

A child at Jacks' Washington address also had attended Stuart-Hobson Elementary School but withdrew in 2006 as a fifth-grader, public school officials said.

The D.C. Child and Family Services agency tried last year to investigate a complaint about the family. But investigators could not make face-to-face contact with family members and believed they had moved to Maryland, agency spokeswoman Mindy Good said.

Norris West, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Human Resources, said D.C. officials in June asked social services officials in Charles County, Md., to open a case for the family. However, county officials were not able to locate the family, and it is unclear whether they had actually moved to Charles County, West said.

Outside the courthouse, a woman who said she spent the day with Jacks in a cellblock area, told reporters Jacks admitted to killing her children.

"She kept talking about her kids had demons in them," said Tamara Crump, who was locked up on a drug charge but let go after authorities declined to prosecute her. She said Jacks "smelled like death," an odor so strong that Crump and other prisoners asked for masks, according to the Washington Post.

"The woman is crazy," Crump said.

Fenty said Thursday that besides at least one contact with child welfare officials, the family had at least one brush with D.C. police.

According to court records, Jacks was charged in January 2007 with driving an unregistered vehicle. In February, she paid a $175 fine and the case was dismissed.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/11/national/main3699125.shtml