Oct 26, 2009 11:31 pm US/Eastern
Father Kills Daughter, Self In Camden Apartment
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS 3) ―
A father took the life of his two-year-old daughter before killing himself inside a Camden apartment, police said.
The Camden County Prosecutor said 25-year-old Eric Banks was alone with his two-year-old daughter Enalla inside an apartment on the seventh floor of Northgate Apartments at about 7 p.m. Sunday.
When the child's mother returned to the apartment at about 8:45 p.m., Banks had apparently locked himself inside and was incoherent while the young girl was screaming.
Security guard Daniel Dejesus helped force open the door, where they discovered the two-year-old lying on the floor with her throat slashed and a small fire burning in the kitchen.
"We grabbed a couple fire extinguishers and that's how we got in, we broke the locks," said DeJesus.
The child was rushed from the apartment to Cooper University Hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
"It's sad you know, that anybody would do something so horrible," said Dejesus.
Authorities said the apartment was fully engulfed by the time firefighters arrived at the scene. The flames were quickly extinguished and Banks' body was found burned with a self-inflicted cut to his throat.
The fire was contained to the one unit and no additional injuries were reported. Several residents were evacuated from the building as a precaution, but all were allowed to re-enter the building at about midnight.
The tragic incident remains under investigation.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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