Inside the day this dad’s life changed forever: His little girl was left to die inside a hot car for nine hours by her ice addict mum – and there’s one thing he wants every Aussie to know about her death
- Darcey-Helen and Chloe -Ann died in 2019
- Darcey’s dad lives with the pain every day
- Pursuing legal action against child safety department
The shattered dad of a little girl who was left to die in a sweltering hot car alongside her half-sister says he is haunted by the tragedy, making every day a ‘living nightmare’.
Darcey-Helen and Chloe-Ann Conley were just two-and-a-half and 18-months years old respectively when they were left in a car outside their Brisbane home on November 23, 2019.
They sat there, in their car seats, for nine hours as temperatures soared past 60C inside the vehicle.
Their ice-addicted mother, Kerri-Ann, said she left them there because she did not want to wake them – while she went into her Waterford West home to sleep.
Darcey-Helen’s dad Peter Jackson was no longer living with Kerri-Ann at the time but received a frantic phone call from her when she found the girls unresponsive.
He will never forget the awful memories of trying to resuscitate his little girl on the bathroom floor nine hours later.
Darcey-Helen and Chole-Ann were unable to be revived, despite desperate attempts to save them.
Darcey-Helen Conley and her half-sister Chloe-Ann were left to die in a hot car in 2019
He says everything changed that day. ‘I relive that bathroom every night, every day,’ Mr Jackson told ABC TV in an interview.
‘It’s not just me that this has affected. It’s the whole family. We’ve basically had to learn how to live again.
‘You just want to lay in bed, pull the doona over your head, and be done with the day.’
When Mr Jackson received the panicked call from Kerri-Ann, he told her to call an ambulance as he raced to the house where the children were lying on the bathroom floor.
Their mother was standing in the bath tub with water running.
Mr Jackson performed CPR on Darcey-Helen while Kerri-Ann tried to resuscitate Chloe-Ann.
A shocking report released last month revealed Kerri-Ann was known to the Department of Child Safety and had a long history of neglect and drug abuse.
The report revealed how Kerri-Ann brazenly told child services she used methamphetamine and even refused drug tests.
She is also said to have told them she wanted to swap her unborn child Chloe-Ann for an iPhone 7 in June 2018.
Darcey-Helen Conley’s dad Peter Jackson remains haunted by the tragedy
Another report claimed Darcey-Helen was seen with a bong in her mouth while running around her house on November 6, 2019, just weeks before her death.
Just a week later, on November 13, police were told Conley was using and dealing crystal meth from her home, with her children locked in another room.
But despite the litany of shocking abuse and neglect, child services still declared Kerri-Ann ‘a parent willing and able’. Just ten days after making that judgment, her children were dead.
Mr Jackson is now pursuing legal action against the Queensland child safety department and is seeking damages for personal injuries he says stem from the girls’ deaths three-and-a-half years ago.
He has sustained nervous shock, severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and severe anxiety since the tragedy, a notice of claim filed with the Supreme Court last year states.
He believes Darcey-Helen and Chloe-Ann would still be alive today if not for a series of failures by Queensland’s Child Safety department.
Just weeks before the tragedy, doctors told the department that Darcey had been exposed to meth at her mum’s house.
Mr Jackson says he also reported that Kerri-Ann had told him she had previously fallen asleep on the couch, leaving the kids in the car.
A Queensland Family and Child Commission report found ‘clear red flags’ were overlooked and that the system ‘should have done more’ to promote their safety.
‘Child Safety knew their mother used ice,’ Mr Jackson told the ABC.
‘They knew she drove around high, with Darcey in the car … that she refused to do drug tests.
‘They knew she wanted to swap Chloe for an iPhone 7 [prior to her birth].’
Kerri-Ann Conley (pictured with Darcey-Helen) was sentenced to nine years jail earlier this year
Mr Jackson is also campaigning for child safety legislation to be overhauled, calling for an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the protection system.
Mr Jackson has been given leave to commence proceedings against the State of Queensland and granted leave to sue Conley and her motor vehicle insurer RACQ Insurance.
Lawyers for RACQ Insurance denied its client is obliged to indemnify Conley in respect of the claim for damages.
The Queensland Family and Child Commission undertook systems review following the deaths of Chloe and Darcey and made three recommendations which have since all been implemented.
‘Queenslanders need to have confidence that vulnerable children can and will be looked after, and that there are systems in place to look after children who are at risk,’ a department spokeswoman said.
‘We will always act as a model litigant in the conduct of all litigation, ensuring we meet our obligations to uphold ethical and professional standards, and deal with claims promptly.’
Mr Jackson was in court when Conley was sentenced to nine years jail in February after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
He said outside court he was ‘obviously not happy with the sentence’.
‘I can’t help what the other parent does. You can’t always be around, unfortunately,’ he said.
‘I miss their laughs, their giggles, everything. They’re toddlers, what’s not to love about them?’
Kerri-Ann Conley (pictured) will be eligible for parole in November 2024
Kerri-Ann Conley’s daughters Darcy-Helen Conley (left) and Chloe-Ann (right) were found dead in Conley’s car, parked outside her Waterford West home in November 2019
Sentencing judge Justice Peter Applegarth labelled Kerri-Ann’s actions ‘grossly negligent’.
Kerri-Ann had taken them to a friend’s place at 11.30pm on November 22, 2019 before returning home at about 4am.
Instead of removing her daughters from their seats, she went inside, dawdled on her phone for a few hours and fell asleep.
Darcy-Helen and Chloe-Ann were left in the vehicle in direct sunlight for hours as temperatures climbed to 61.5 degrees.
The girls’ skin was hot to the touch, was covered in burns and blisters and was ‘peeling off’ as paramedics tried to revive them, the court was told.
The court was told Conley disclosed to a covert police officer while in custody that she smoked the drug ice daily.
But she insisted her kids ‘always came first’ and her drug use did not affect her relationship with the girls.
‘It’s an astounding statement only a drug addict could make,’ Mr Applegarth said.
Now 30, Conley has already served three years behind bars and will be eligible for parole after November 22, 2024.
Peter Jackson (pictured) believes Darcey and Chloe would still be alive today if it wasn’t for a series of failures by the state’s child protection system
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