NEW : One child appeared to be stabbed to death , another strangled . Mother Banita Jacks , 33 , told police her children died in their sleep . Jacks faces 3 counts of felony murder , 1 count of first - degree murder while armed . The former Washington mayor represents the ward in which the bodies were found . In trying to determine how kids ' deaths , absences went unnoticed .
NEW : One child appeared to be stabbed to death , another strangled . Mother Banita Jacks , 33 , told police her children died in their sleep . Jacks faces 3 counts of felony murder , 1 count of first - degree murder while armed . In trying to determine how kids ' deaths , absences went unnoticed .