Australian mother admits to manslaughter after daughters left for dead in hot car

Kerri-Ann Conley had her charges downgraded from murder after entering guilty pleas to manslaughter at Brisbane Supreme Court. Photo / Facebook

A Queensland mum has conceded she caused the death of her two young daughters by leaving them inside a hot car for hours, after murder charges against her were downgraded in court.

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 sentencing for the horrific incident on Tuesday morning.

Police alleged Conley returned home from a friend’s house and parked her Mazda sedan – with her children seated in the back – outside her Waterford West home on November 23, 2019.

The girls were left in the station wagon and she went inside and fell asleep.

Officers later found Darcy-Helen, two, and Chloe-Ann, one, dead.

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 at Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday, Conley entered pleas of guilty to two counts of manslaughter.

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

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

More to come.