Verdict Expected Soon In Banita Jacks Murder Trial

(Washington, DC) — A verdict could come as early as tomorrow in the trial of Banita Jacks, the Southeast DC woman accused of murdering her four children. Closing arguments wrapped up Monday in DC Superior Court. Prosecutor Michelle Jackson said Jacks tortured her daughters before she killed them, and compared their apartment to the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The defense argued that Jacks was indeed guilty of child neglect, but argued the prosecution failed to prove its case for murder. The bench trial ended without Jacks’ testimony. She was arrested in January 2008 after the decomposing bodies of her daughters were found in their Southeast home. Jacks asked for, and was granted, a jury trial waiver. The judge alone will decide her fate.

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