Voodoo may factor in probe into girl's death

07:50 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 19, 2005

From WFAA-TV Staff Reports

Voodoo may factor into the investigation in the death of a 17-year-old girl found inside a condominium near downtown.

The child's 35-year-old mother, Caroline Kiwanuka, is now being treated at Terrell State Hospital, a mental health facility.

The girl's body was found Tuesday morning in a unit at the Oak Bluff Condominiums in the 4500 block of Live Oak Street after neighbors had reported a bad odor.

Police said the victim was disabled, and had apparently been dead for a while.

WFAA-TV

The body was found in a condominium near downtown Dallas.

Investigators are now looking into events involving her mother Kiwanuka prior to the discovery of the dead girl's body.

Police reports show officers were called to a Dallas Wal-Mart on Marsh Lane, which the mother worked at, for an October 5 incident believed to involve voodoo. Officers then transported the woman to Green Oaks Hospital in Dallas for observation.

The police report goes on to explain Kiwanuka would not talk, had a blank stare and made witchcraft gestures with her hands. She did not respond when police tried to talk to her.

Neighbors said the woman kept to herself and the girl was always inside. The manager said he was shocked when he got calls about the terrible odor.

"I never smell anything until this morning when we opened the door," he said. "When they got inside it looked like she had been there for awhile, maybe three days [or] maybe four days."

Dallas police are calling the death unexplained.