Mother Ruled Competent For Trial in Four Deaths

A Southeast Washington woman has been ruled mentally competent to stand trial in the slayings of her four daughters.

Banita Jacks, 35, earlier had rejected efforts by her lawyers to wage an insanity defense in the slayings of the girls, whose bodies were found in January 2008 in the family's rowhouse. She has said she intends to plead not guilty and could face a life prison term if convicted of first-degree murder and other charges.

At a hearing in D.C. Superior Court yesterday, Judge Frederick H. Weisberg asked Jacks a series of questions to determine whether she is competent and whether she is aware of the ramifications of going to trial. He set a trial date for July 13.

"Is it your present intention not to raise an insanity defense?" Weisberg asked.

"Yes," Jacks replied. "I am not insane and these are alleged crimes."

Jacks has been in custody since her arrest Jan. 9, 2008, after federal marshals serving an eviction notice at her rowhouse on Sixth Street SE found the bodies. Authorities said the girls had been dead for up to six months.

The youngest daughter, Aja Fogle, 5, had been strangled and beaten, according to a 12-count indictment returned by a grand jury. N'Kiah Fogle, 6, and Tatiana Jacks, 11, were strangled, and Brittany Jacks, 15, whom her mother referred to as a "Jezebel," was stabbed, the indictment said.

Weisberg's ruling came after a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation of Jacks at St. Elizabeths Hospital in the fall. Mental health experts there said that she was mentally fit to stand trial and that she understood the charges against her.