A mother who left her children to die in a hot car sent a chilling text message to the father of one of the girls, telling him she had left her in the car ‘all night’ after she fell asleep on the sofa had fallen, according to a judicial investigation.
Kerri-Ann Conley’s alleged text was made years before her daughters Darcey Helen and Chloe-Ann Conley reportedly died of hyperthermia outside her Waterford West home in 2019, as the investigation into their deaths continues in Brisbane.
Details of Conley’s disturbing drug use and comments were revealed by witnesses on the first day, including concerns her former partner had about the girls’ safety.
Darcey-Helen and Chloe-Ann died after being left by their mother in a hot car outside her home in Waterford West, south of Brisbane, on November 23 that year.
Conley is serving a nine-year prison sentence for their manslaughter, but will be eligible for parole later this year.
The inquest is examining the events leading to the girls’ deaths, as well as the responses of Child Safety, Metro South Health and the Queensland Police Service (QPS).
Kerri-Ann Conley is serving a nine-year prison sentence for the manslaughter of her daughters, who were both under three years old when they were left to die in a hot car
Conley’s drug use, including her heavy use of methylamphetamine and whether it endangered the girls, will come under scrutiny.
On Monday, Deanne Power gave evidence that she lost her cool over Conley because she “didn’t do anything around the house” while living with her.
It also caused a rift with her son Peter Jackson, Darcey-Helen’s biological father.
Ms Power said her son and Conley were not living together by Christmas 2017, but she described their relationship as “good”.
Ms Power said Mr Jackson went to Child Safety over concerns about Conley’s behaviour, and read a text message to a Child Safety call-taker he had received from Conley.
The court was told the lyrics used words to the effect: ‘I fell asleep in the lounge, oops, I left Chloe in the car all night.’
Ms Power said she knew nothing about Chloe-Ann’s birth until Conley entered their home with “another baby” in 2018.
Ms Power said Darcey-Helen’s father wanted his child to remain out of Conley’s care.
On one occasion the little girl was admitted to hospital, with Ms Power telling the court she saw Darcey-Helen ‘banging her head against a wall’ and trying to climb it while she was at Conley’s house.
Two-year-old Darcey-Helen Conley (left) and 18-month-old Chloe-Ann died (right) after being left in a car for more than nine hours by their mother, Kerri-Ann Conley
“I said to (Peter), ‘She must have drugs in her system,’” Ms. Power said.
Former child care educator Sandra Cowan talked about her interactions with Conley while caring for Darcey in her child care facility.
She told the court she was informed by a parent who had a child at her center that Conley “couldn’t cope” with her two children.
Ms Cowan said Conley eventually arranged for Darcey-Helen to go to the center twice a week for about six hours a day.
“She was really good at it for the first few weeks,” Ms Cowan said.
‘Then things started to go downhill.
‘I sent her texts asking if she was coming. Darcey was almost never part of the beginning of the program… there were times when I met Darcey at the car because Kerri-Ann was in a hurry.”
Ms Cowan said she gave Conley the benefit of the doubt and tried to be flexible if she was late dropping Darcey off at the center or not picking her up until 5.30pm.
A former childcare worker reported that Darcey-Helen Conley (pictured) said the child looked tired, had little energy and looked unkempt and hungry during the last few months of childcare. Image: Facebook
Chloe Ann Conley. Image: Facebook
She said Conley often gave “light-hearted” excuses for why she was late, such as that she and the girls were “asleep.” The court was told she also failed to give Darcey essentials such as food or nappies when she was dropped off at daycare. .
Ms Cowan said Darcey ‘always looked tired’ and didn’t seem to have much energy during her last few months at childcare.
On other occasions the child was ‘looking for food’ and Mrs Cowan had to wash her.
“Darcey started showing signs of looking unkempt… she started developing nappy rash,” Ms Cowan said.
“I would give her a bath, just to make sure she felt loved.”
Ms. Cowan said Conley could afford Darcey’s attendance, but he fell behind.
The situation eventually culminated in Ms. Cowan setting up a system to alert Conley when it was time to pick up Darcey.
Darcey-Helen’s great-aunt Deborah Jackson weighed in on her interactions with Conley, initially describing her as a “very quiet girl” when she was first introduced.
The Brisbane Coroner’s Court was told Conley was “horrified” when she learned she was pregnant with Darcey-Helen, and even threatened to “dump” the baby on Mr Jackson’s doorstep.
Despite this, Mrs. Jackson said Conley loved her daughter.
Ms. Jackson said Darcey-Helen was left alone with Mr. Jackson’s 13-year-old daughter several times, including after her birth while Conley went outside the hospital for a cigarette.
When Ms. Jackson was confronted by a nurse about leaving the baby with a minor, she said Conley responded, “It’s my baby, I’ll do what I want.”
She indicated that Mr. Jackson did not approve of Conley’s drug use and at one point discovered a glass pipe and marijuana under her car seat.
The court was told Conley had been involved in car accidents while Darcey-Helen was in the car – ending up in a ditch after rounding a bend on the M1 motorway.
On another occasion, she climbed a traffic island after leaving the parking lot of a Hungry Jack.
Ms. Jackson said Conley was angry that child safety officers became involved with her family and described a confrontation she had with Mr. Jackson at their home.
The inquest found that Mr Jackson (pictured) did not approve of Conley’s drug use and at one point discovered a glass pipe and marijuana under her car seat
“Kerri wanted to know who got her involved with Child Safety,” Ms. Jackson said.
She said Conley then “hurled” the young girl at Mr. Jackson and stormed away.
Ms. Jackson testified that Conley was eventually moved to her own unit in Kingston while she shared custody of the child.
“It was like a bomb had been blown off inside,” Ms Jackson told the court.
‘It was dirty, never clean, there were dishes everywhere and she had way too much furniture.’
Other witnesses, including Mr Jackson, will give evidence during the five-day inquest.
Tamra Jackson, Jackson’s cousin, also indicated she suspected Conley was using drugs while caring for Darcey-Helen.
She said Conley would sometimes not answer her phone, leave her house and not return for days.
In her testimony, Tamra told the court that Mr. Jackson found drug paraphernalia in the glove compartment of his car.
She explained that Conley continually used the excuse that she was “holding it for a friend.”
“She (Conley) never got rid of it,” Tamara said.
In her evidence, Tamra said Conley admitted to “purchasing urine” to provide clean drug test samples and that her drug use was known to child safety staff.
In one text, reportedly sent to Tamra by a support worker, Conley was urged to “stay off that stuff if you can.”
“They obviously knew she was using,” Tamra said.
The court was told Kerri-Ann Conley (pictured with Darcey-Helen) angrily talked about a nurse who confronted Conley about leaving her daughter in the company of a minor shortly after her birth
During Conley’s sentencing last year, the Brisbane Supreme Court was told both children died of hyperthermia as a result of being left in the hot car.
Conley had returned from a friend’s house with the girls around 4 a.m. that morning and parked the car in front of her home in Waterford West.
She didn’t get her kids out of their car seats and went inside, dawdled on her phone and fell asleep.
Temperatures rose as high as 61.5 degrees Celsius that day until Conley removed them about nine hours later.
Conley threw a small plastic bag containing medication residue into the trash before calling Mr. Jackson and calling triple-0.
The inquest, before State Coroner Terry Ryan, continues.