Waterford West deaths: toddlers ‘had been left before’, mother to stay behind bars

A woman charged with murdering her baby daughters, after they were left in a car for hours, will stay behind bars.

Chloe-Ann, 1, left, Darcey-Helen Conley, 2 and Kerri-Anne Conley (centre).

Friends and neighbours of the mother charged with murdering her two baby daughters say they had previously seen the girls sitting alone in the car where their bodies were found on Saturday.

Single mother Kerri-Ann Conley, 27, was charged with the murder of Darcey-Helen, 2, and Chloe-Ann, 1, after they were found unresponsive in the black car where they had allegedly been left for several hours in sweltering 31C heat.

Paramedics tried to revive them but they were pronounced dead at the scene about 2pm, on a quiet suburban street in Waterford West, a suburb of southeast Queensland city Logan.

Ms Conley will remain behind bars after a brief hearing in court this morning.

Her case was mentioned in Brisbane Magistrates Court but Ms Conley did not appear in the dock.

Her lawyer, Sam Wildermuth, today asked for his client’s next appearance to be in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court.

The next court hearing will be a committal callover on December 11.

Ms Conley has also been charged with possessing cannabis and a pipe used for smoking drugs.

The charges were laid at the same time she was charged with the murder of her daughters.

Police allegedly found the drugs at her home while responding to an emergency call on Saturday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed today the state’s Department of Child Safety had been contacted before the girls were found dead on Saturday.

Single mother Kerri-Ann Conley. Picture: Facebook

The Australian understands police are investigating whether drugs had played a role in the tragedy. Nine News reported it was “believed (Conley) had fallen asleep inside the home” while the children were in the car.

Ms Conley spent Saturday and Sunday nights in the Brisbane watch-house.

Gina McKenzie, who regularly babysat the girls, told The Australian there had been previous complaints to authorities about the children being left in the car. “It had happened before as welfare had been contacted a number of times by people complaining,” Ms McKenzie said.

“I am not shocked at the charges, I am disgusted they were left in that car.”

Part of a baby seat and children’s toys can be seen in the back seat of the car where the children were found. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Ms McKenzie said she last saw the girls on Friday night and had “given them a goodnight, not knowing it was the last time” she would see them.

“I have known both of them since they both were born,” she said. “They were lovely little girls, full of life. Chloe-Ann was just about to start walking. They loved being outside.”

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she had also previously seen the girls in the car by themselves.

“I’ve seen them in the car a few times before,” she said.

“Whenever you see that you just think, ‘maybe she’s forgotten something inside or something’.”

Locals touched by the deaths leave tributes at the front gate at the scene where two toddlers died. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

The neighbour said she had seen police at the small, low-set home in the past and had recently heard a child’s screams coming from the house “for about an hour”.

“It’s really horrible to think about those little kids in (the car),” she said. “They would have been hysterical.”

One abnormality neighbours noticed on Sunday was the way in which the car was parked, directly in front of the home, instead of in its usual place in the nearby driveway.

The black Mazda station wagon remained parked in front of the house on Sunday in a neat yard scattered with toys on Logan Reserve Road. A child’s toy could be seen hanging from behind the driver’s seat.

Neighbour Kaleb Youile had walked past the car and didn't realise the children were inside. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Detectives combed through the home, which was surrounded by police tape and remained a crime scene. Officers emerged from the house carrying several brown evidence bags and a printer.

Hours before Ms Conley was charged, Detective Inspector Mark White said the timing and circumstances of a phone call to triple-0 shortly after 1.30pm would be a factor in the case.

“Identifying who made phone calls to the QAS (Queensland Ambulance Service) will form part of it and exactly what the circumstances were surrounding that,” he said.

Neighbours said they saw police emerge from the home carrying the two lifeless bodies, which appeared to be wet, on Saturday afternoon. Shocked police and paramedics were offered counselling after responding.

Neighbour Kaleb Youile, 20, said he had walked past the car on his way home from work, shortly before the horrific discovery, but had never imagined it would ­become a crime scene.

“It’s surreal, crazy, I never would have expected it,” he said.

“That it’s happened so close … you think, ‘I could have done something about it’.”

Mr Youile, who has a baby daughter, placed a teddy bear and flowers among a growing pile of tributes in front of the home.

“I did it to remember them, I guess, to make sure they get justice and to stop things like this from happening again,” he said.

“I couldn’t imagine if that happened. It’s your worst nightmare.”