Officials unable to determine cause of deaths for 4 slain sisters; mom accused of murder

Investigators haven't been able to determine when or how four young sisters died because their bodies were too decomposed before they were found last month in their home, D.C. officials said Wednesday.

The victims, ages 5 to 16, have been formally identified as the daughters of Banita Jacks, who is charged with murder in their deaths, said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. Their deaths were officially ruled homicides.

The girls' bodies were found Jan. 9 when deputy U.S. marshals served an eviction notice on the southeast Washington rowhouse where the family lived.

Investigators are studying insects on the bodies to determine how long ago the girls died, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Marie-Lydie Pierre-Louis said. Investigators have said Jacks indicated they had been dead for months.

The medical examiner's office has said there is evidence that the eldest, Brittany, was stabbed and that the younger girls had other signs of trauma.

But Pierre-Louis said Wednesday that without the organs, investigators could not conclude exactly how the children died. "We cannot say yes or no what happened to these girls," she said. "We do not have the organs to allow us to say."

A D.C. police detective testified at a hearing this month that Jacks told police the girls were possessed by demons, which she wanted to remove.

Jacks is charged with murder and a judge has ordered that she remain in custody while a grand jury investigates. She is being represented by the public defender's office, which has declined to comment. Jacks' next court hearing is April 4.

Six social workers have been fired for failing to properly address alarming complaints about Jacks' care for her daughters. A union representing three of the workers appealed.