For sale: Banita Jacks' house of horrors

WASHINGTON - It's cliché to say a picture is worth a thousand words. But in this case, it's an understatement.

Drawings on the walls of a home where four girls were found dead may provide a somber glimpse into their tormented and short lives.

A little more than a year ago, U.S. Marshals showed up at the two-story row house on 6th Street in Southeast to serve an eviction notice.

What unfolded on Jan. 9, 2008 continues to make national headlines.

The Marshals found Banita Jacks, the 33-year-old mother of four, alone in the house.

Upstairs, they found the decomposing bodies of her daughters: 16-year-old Brittany Jacks, 11-year-old Tatianna Jacks, 6-year-old N'Kiah Fogle and 5-year-old Aja Fogle.

Jacks is set to stand trail in July for their murders.

In the months since the gruesome discovery, the house has reverted to the bank that held the mortgage and has been on the market for nearly eight months.

The real estate agent for the property allowed WTOP to take a look inside the house where Jacks is accused of suffocating and stabbing her daughters.

At first glance, there are no signs of the horrific tragedy that happened in the blue brick home.

There is no smell that would indicate the home's history. There are some holes in the drywall and the plumbing is not working. Other than that, it appears to be your average rundown house.

Until you go upstairs, where the bodies were found.

In one of the bedrooms, drawings and scribbling can still be seen on the walls. In one place, the phrase, "Yes I do love Mom" is written. In another you can read, "Love me."

There's a drawing of four cracked eggs, lined up biggest to smallest with the smallest egg opened and a small child popping out. It's an eerie reminder of how the bodies were found lying side-by-side in order of their age.

Jacks had told social workers and police that her daughters were not in school because she was home schooling them. On some walls, you can see math problems, "2+2=4" and parts of the alphabet are written out.

No one knows what the drawings and writings mean - they can only be left to the imagination. There is a drawing of a cat and figures that appear to be angels. "TY" appears several times on the walls, perhaps a reference to 11-year-old Tatianna.

As for the house itself, Carlton Hill, who represents the bank that owns the property, admits it's a tough sell.

"A lot of people are really not comfortable with the neighborhood," Hill says. "There is some illegal drug traffic that happens across the street, and then the history with the property, the crime here."

The three bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom home was originally listed for $149,000 - about the average for the neighborhood.

But after several open houses that only drew one person and an auction that didn't produce a buyer, Hill has lowered the price to $90,900 - the lowest priced three-bedroom home in 20032 Zip code.

Hill says the house will be offered at auction again in a few weeks, and hopes an investor will see the home for its potential and not its past.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)