The more I read about this, the more I believe that this mother, Banita Jacks, apparently flipped out when her husband died of cancer in February 2007. She did not attend his funeral, nor did she let the children attend. In fact, the children did not seem to know or understand that he was dead. It just seems to appear that as time went on, she kind of stopped “living”, so to speak. Their power was shut off in September and she stopped feeding the children also. It is unknown when the children died. I have read it could have been as early as May, but most seem to to suggest more like sometime in the last month.
Her cellmate has said:
“She smelled like death,” cellmate Tawana Crump tells WJLA-TV, adding: “Weird, weird, she eat her food like this little teeny little bites.”
As sad as this may appear, however, the evidence still points towards murder. One daughter was apparently stabbed in the stomach and another one strangled. Right now it appears too early to speculate on everything, but overall, this is a horribly sad situation for all.
Banita Jacks
Court Papers: Mom Said Demons Possessed Kids
D.C. mother says 4 daughters were ‘possessed’
Mother Charged in 4 D.C. Girls’ Deaths
Mother charged in grisly deaths of her four children
January 14, 2008 at 7:07 am
Honestly, I feel so bad for mother. All reports say that she was a kind and loving person, especially when it came to her children. It’s obvious that she was not in her right mind and was going through some type of mental trauma. It’s sad that these young girls lives had to be taken away as a result of their mothers mental health problems. No matter how gruesome and disgusting it may be, I still feel compassion towards her and her family, because in the end she’s still a mother who lost not only all of her children, but her whole family, and her life. I say this because no person (especially a mother or 4) in their right mind, could do this to her babies.
January 14, 2008 at 8:22 am
Do not feel sorry for her, feel sorry for those babies. Issues like this don’t just come out of the blue. She wasn’t feeding them for quite some time prior to the murders. She knew something was wrong with her. She could have gotten help.
January 14, 2008 at 11:06 am
I agree with Melissa, you know when something’s not right with you. When her husband passed away (if that was the reason), and she felt like she wasn’t going to be able to make it, she should have asked for help. Heck she could have even just left her kids if she couldn’t do it, instead she kills them? I do feel for the family, but I find it hard to have compassion for her.
January 14, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I do feel sorry for those babies…my heart goes out to them. But when you’re in a psychotic episode, and you’re depressed to the point where you have nothing left go on, people do crazy things. I’m not saying it was okay. I’m not saying she didnt have other choices or alternatives, but she went crazy…so maybe she did feel as if they were possesed. Things like that happen when people go through episodes like that. When I say I feel sorry for her, I mean the whole situation. The whole thing is very unfortunate, and regardless of what you guys say, my prayers go out to her and her family. Thanks.
January 14, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Murder Charges For DC Woman Over 4 Dead Kids
CBS News Interactive: Children In Danger
WASHINGTON (CBS) ― A woman found in her home Wednesday with the decomposing bodies of four girls believed to be her children has been charged with murder in their deaths, authorities said Thursday.
It’s only 14 days into 2008 and one horror story about innocent children being murdered after another has come forward–from a 12 year old boy beating a 17 month old girl to death with a baseball bat to a father throwing four children off the bridge in Alabama to Banita Jacks being charged with the murder of her four children. People blog to express their shock, anger, grief, opinions, their bewilderment over such inhumane treatment of children by their parents, or just to relieve their own pain over hearing about one more helpless innocent baby. It is understandable. Before the end of 2008, I fear, the world will hear of many, many more crimes by heartless predators against children. Crimes against children and all that is related to them are increasing.
Society should get angry over the murder of children. Society is being robbed of its future hope and joyous wonderful children. It isn’t enough to just get angry. Not until society becomes angry enough and becomes willing to do more than express its justified anger and frustration against the perpetuators on an inter net blog will this problem decrease. I got so angry I founded the Museum of Innocence to take these crimes out of the closet and expose them up close and personal to the world so together we could find solutions to stop harming our children. I built a web site for all to go to and use–www.museumofinnocence.org. Now, if this museum is to ever be built, it will depend all of you to help create a powerful method of stopping child abuse and murder. Go to the web site and share your ideas, your stories, and tell others. Help build the museum one dollar at a time. Send a dollar donation in honor and memory of a murdered child you know. If you know a murdered child who needs to be memorialized on the inter net, send his/her name so we can include that child. Don’t just get angry, become an advocate against child abuse. http://www.museumofinnocence.org
July 9, 2009 at 7:01 am
Wow, all I can say is how can a mother do that, not one but all four kids. I mean the 17 year old was damn near an adult. All babies are a blessing. Their so innocient, they don’t no know no better, they count on you SO much. They depand on you. Their first smile, walk, everything is such a joyful and memoriable moment. Just imagine the looks all them kids when they saw their own mother taking their lives right there in front of their eyes. I don’t care how hard times can be, but you HAVe to pull yourself together. My prayers go out to all those 4 kids. And the mother. GOD BLESS