Logan, QLD, car deaths: Friends of Kerri-Ann Conley say she loved her daughters after alleged murder

Friends and neighbours of a mother accused of murdering her toddler daughters by leaving them in a hot car say she desperately loved her children, but she ‘needed help’ and didn’t know where to find it. 

Kerri-Ann Conley was charged with two counts of murder just before 11pm on Saturday, nine hours after police found her two-year-old daughter Darcey and one-year-old Chloe-Ann trapped inside the family car outside their home in Logan City, south of Brisbane.

The girls could not be revived and were declared dead at the scene.

Police are now investigating whether the 27-year-old mother had drugs in her system at the time of her daughters’ deaths.

One of Conley’s friends told Daily Mail Australia the deaths were a terrible accident. 

Pictured: Conley and Darcey, her two year old daughter. The toddler died after her mother allegedly left her in a hot car on a 31C day for hours

Darcey's father, who wanted to remain anonymous said the girls were inseparable and would've grown up to be the best of friends if they were given the chance. Pictured: Darcey

He said Chloe (pictured) was the only baby he knew to always be smiling

Darcey’s father, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the girls were inseparable and would’ve grown up to be the best of friends if they were given the chance. Pictured: Darcey and Chloe

‘She didn’t mean to hurt those girls. She loved them so much,’ the woman said.

Conley needed help in raising them, she said, but didn’t know who to turn to.

‘She needed help but didn’t know how to ask,’ she said. 

‘Kerri-Ann is no monster and this would be killing her.’

Kerri-Ann is believed to have fallen asleep and forgotten the girls were still in the car on Saturday as temperatures soared to 31C, 9News reported. 

The mother reportedly ran Darcey and Chloe a cold bath to try and cool them down once she brought them in the house. 

A friend of the family released this photo of Chloe (pictured) after she and her sister died on Saturday

Pictured: Darcey Conley, who died on Saturday

A friend of the family released these photos of Darcey (right) and Chloe (left) after the girls died on Saturday

Kerri-Ann Conley (pictured) was charged with two counts of murder after her daughters died when they were allegedly left in the car on a hot day

Kerri-Ann Conley (pictured) was charged with two counts of murder after her daughters died when they were allegedly left in the car on a hot day

Witnesses said when they saw the two girls being removed from the home, they assumed they had drowned because they were ‘soaking wet’. 

‘My granddaughters saw the babies being carried out of the house soaking wet,’ one neighbour told The Courier Mail. 

‘It is a tragic accident, she was a good mum.’  

Darcey’s father, who asked to remain anonymous, told the publication his ex partner shared a close bond with both of her daughters.

‘If you had seen videos, photos, that I’ve got of Kerri-Ann and the girls mate… she adored them and they adored her,’ he said. 

The man said he also saw himself as a father figure to Chloe, and is devastated the girls will no longer get the chance to reach their full potential.

He described them as ‘inseparable’ and ‘two peas in a pod’, before adding they would’ve grown up to be best friends if they had the chance. 

A police officer takes a photo of the car where the girls were left at the Waterford West home amid investigations on Sunday

A police officer takes a photo of the car where the girls were left at the Waterford West home amid investigations on Sunday

‘They giggled all the time, the pair of them. Although they were 12 months apart, Chloe wasn’t really that far behind Darcey. I think she learnt a lot off Darcey, mannerisms,’ he told The Courier Mail. 

Police are still piecing together the events of the day, but one woman claimed her grandson noticed the girls in the car about 6.30am.

The would mean they’d been trapped for at least seven hours before police arrived at 1.30pm.

Officers reportedly stayed with Conley from that point onwards, right up until she was formally charged at 11pm and transferred to the Brisbane watch house, where she spent Saturday night and Sunday night. 

She is due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday.   

Neighbours previously said the siblings were ‘gorgeous little girls’.

‘They were always dressed beautifully and just happy little girls…. They were always out in the yard playing,’ one said. 

Flower bouquets and stuffed animals are seen outside the Logan home were two young sisters died on Saturday

Flower bouquets and stuffed animals are seen outside the Logan home were two young sisters died on Saturday

A boy leaves stuffed toys at the front of the Waterford West home to remember the two sisters who died

A boy leaves stuffed toys at the front of the Waterford West home to remember the two sisters who died

WHAT CAUSES DEATHS IN HOT CARS?

Emergency services rescue more than 2,000 unattended children in cars each year.

The temperature inside a parked car can be more than 30 degrees hotter than outside the car, according to the NRMA.

Up to 75 per cent of the temperature increase occurs within five minutes of the car being closed.

‘A child left in a parked car under those conditions for even a few minutes can very quickly become distressed, dehydrated and can die from organ failure,’ the NRMA website states.   

Members of the local community visited the home on Logan Reserve Road, in Waterford West, to remember the girls on Sunday morning.

Flower bouquets and stuffed animals were placed on the grass below the front fence, which is lined with police tape amid investigations into the deaths.  

Queensland Police Detective Inspector Mark White said the children died from extreme heat exposure. 

‘Paramedics made attempts to revive those children, unfortunately they were both declared deceased at the scene,’ he said. 

‘The two children showed evidence of being exposed to extreme heat. 

‘It’s tragic and we are putting a lot of emphasis on supporting our staff, because they do a very difficult job.’ 

Conley had reportedly moved into the home about six months ago.

It is the same property that police searched when investigating the murder of Beenleigh schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, 12, in 2015. 

Officers were searching for links between Tiahleigh and the then-occupants but did not find any before her foster father pleaded guilty in 2018.  

Detectives leave the Waterford West home on Sunday with items gathered from inside the property

Detectives leave the Waterford West home on Sunday with items gathered from inside the property

A cubby house inside the grounds of the home at Logan Reserve Road

Children's toys are seen sprawled in the front yard behind the front fence of the house in Waterford West

Children’s toys are seen sprawled in the front yard behind the front fence of the house in Waterford West, Logan 

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