Mum dawdled on phone, slept while daughters died locked in sweltering car

Horrific circumstances of how two children died in a hot car with no protection from the elements have been revealed after their mum pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

A Queensland mum dawdled on her phone and fell asleep as her two daughters died in a hot car, unable to get free or protect themselves from sweltering temperatures above 60 degrees, a court has been told.

Sporting a face mask and wearing a white and pink floral top, Kerri-Ann Conley was escorted into the dock by Corrective Services officers as she faced a sentencing hearing for the horrific incident on Tuesday morning.

Kerri-Ann Conley’s daughters Darcey-Helen Conley (left) and Chloe-Ann were found dead in Conley’s car, parked outside her Waterford West home in November 2019. Conley on Tuesday pleaded to the manslaughter of the girls. Picture: Supplied / Channel 9.

“This is not a case of an unfortunate lapse in memory … the deaths of these children could have been easily avoided,” crown prosecutor Sarah Dennis told the court during her submissions.

Family members, including her mother and the father of one of the children, Peter Jackson, sat in the back of Brisbane Supreme Court as the horrific series of events was laid bare.

Conley at times wept and wiped away tears but otherwise stared ahead during the lengthy sentencing.

Conley (pictured) had her charges downgraded from murder after entering guilty pleas to manslaughter at Brisbane Supreme Court. Picture: Facebook.

The court was told Conley took her children Darcy-Helen, 2, and Chloe-Ann, 1, to a friend’s house the day before at 11.30pm.

She put them to sleep and spent time socialising at the house before leaving the next morning at 4.10.

Crown prosecutor Sarah Dennis said Conley left the children secured inside the car with the doors locked and the vehicle parked under no shade, after she returned home.

Temperatures in the car reached up to 61.5 degrees throughout the day, the court was told.

Phone records revealed Conley was using her mobile phone until after 5am in the morning before going to sleep, her children still inside the car.

She woke later in the afternoon, finally taking the children out of the car and into the house.

Chloe-Ann Conley (pictured) and Darcy-Helen died after being left in Conley’s car for hours in November 2019, with paramedics saying their skin peeled off as they tried to treat the dying children. Picture: Supplied

The court was told Conley took out a plastic bag - containing residue of illicit drugs - and threw them into the bin.

She then phoned the father of one of the girls, who advised her to phone triple-0.

“She told them she had fallen asleep and had left the children in the car,” Ms Dennis said

“She was in a distressed state.”

The children’s skin was covered in blisters and was hot to touch, and peeled off as paramedics attempted to treat them, Ms Dennis said.

She told the court Conley gave a false account of what happened the night before to police in a bid to minimise her involvement.

The court was told Conley had left her daughters in the car on previous occasions, with neighbours witnessing the incidents.

Ms Dennis said Conley on those occasions explained she left them there because they were sleeping and were “difficult” to settle once awakened.

In her submissions, Ms Dennis said Conley’s children were “entirely defenceless” and had no way of freeing themselves from the car or protecting themselves from the elements.

The court was told Kerri-Ann Conley (right) had previously left the girls in the car, telling neighbours they were asleep and she didn’t want to wake them as they were “difficult to settle” once disturbed. Picture: Supplied

“It represents a complete abrogation of her duties as the mother and primary carer of her children,” she said.

Conley was described as a “heavy and frequent” drug user by Ms Dennis.

Traces of the drug ice as well as amphetamines were found in her blood and she admitted to smoking a “point-and-a-half” of methylamphetamine the day before the incident.

Conley was initially charged with murder under new Queensland legislation introduced just a few weeks before the incident, which includes reckless indifference to human life as a form of murder.

But she entered pleas of guilty to two counts of manslaughter when brought into court on Tuesday.

She also pleaded guilty to other charges of possessing drugs and drug utensils.

Peter Jackson, the father of slain toddler Darcey-Helen Conley, watched Kerri-Ann Conley’s sentencing from the back of the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Asked if she wished to say anything during her arraignment, Conoley quietly replied: “No, Your Honour”.

Jeffrey Hunter KC, Conley’s barrister, told the court his client’s guilt would burden her for the rest of her life.

“(It was) a tremendously stupid, arguably selfish and admittedly grossly negligent decision to leave the children in the car,” Mr Hunter said.

Conley had a poor relationship with her mother, who had not visited her in custody for three years, the court heard.

Mr Hunter said his client had otherwise been described as a doting and devoted mother to her daughters.

“She never exhibited the slightest animosity to her children,” he said.

The court was told Conley was forthwith about what happened when paramedics attended by admitting she had fallen asleep.

Supreme Court Justice Peter Applegarth will sentence Conley at a later date.