Banita Jacks, 33, was charged on Thursday with four counts of first-degree murder and appeared in District of Columbia Superior Court. She told police that the deaths occurred before a utility turned off her electricity, which prosecutors said was in September 2007, according to charging documents.

The bodies of the girls - ages 5 to 17 - were found on Wednesday when deputy US marshals served an eviction notice at the apartment in southeast Washington.

'I don't think anyone in the city can remember a case involving this many young people who have died in such a tragic way,' Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said.

'Children were possessed'
Jacks told investigators that the children were possessed by demons and began dying in their sleep, one by one, within a seven-day period, documents say. She also said she had not fed her children for a substantial time before their deaths.

Medical examiner Dr Marie-Lydie Pierre-Louis said the bodies were in the apartment more than 15 days, 'based on the insects that were found there.' Jacks could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Jacks appeared in court in a white jump suit and sandals. She did not speak during the hearing. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Karen Howze ordered her held without bond. Her attorneys had argued that she should be released to the custody of an adult relative pending trial.

The victims
The charging documents identify the children as Brittany Jacks, 17; Tatianna Jacks, 11; N'Kiah Fogle, 6; and Aja Fogle, 5.

Although autopsies are incomplete, the medical examiner's office reported that there was evidence that Brittany had been stabbed, the charging documents state. There was evidence of binding on the necks of the Tatianna and N'Kiah, and evidence of blunt force injury to the head of Aja and binding on her neck, according to the documents.

The three children were dressed in white T-shirts, according to the charging documents.

Brittany's body was partially covered by a white T-shirt. An object that appeared to be a steak knife lay nearby, and there was a dried maroon liquid around the body, according to the documents.

Court records in Charles County, Maryland, show that Jacks filed paternity suits against three men, two of which were successful. The county court records indicated that both men failed to pay required child support.

Poor neighbourhood
The home where the bodies were found is in one of the city's poorest, most violent neighbourhoods. The block is lined by virtually identical apartment houses near Bolling Air Force Base. About one-third of the city's homicides last year occurred in the area, according to preliminary police statistics.

City officials were scrambling to understand how four children could have been dead for at least two weeks without anyone knowing.

The mayor said on Thursday that officials were working to determine what other contacts city agencies had with the family.

'We are going to investigate every single contact that this family has had with the government, with people who are paid to look out for the welfare of children, and we will come back with a full report,' Mayor Fenty said.

Jacks graduated from Aaron's Academy of Beauty in Waldorf in August 2005 with a license to practice cosmetology, said Ms Stacy Lynch, the school's director. She described Jacks as a friendly woman, a good student and a good mother.

'She loved her children,' said Ms Lynch. 'When you saw Banita outside of school, you saw the girls ... they were always together.' The DC Child and Family Services agency tried last year to investigate a complaint about the family.

But investigators could not make face-to-face contact with family members and believed they had moved to Maryland, agency spokeswoman Ms Mindy Good said. -- AP