Houston police say man killed family after dispute
HOUSTON — A family of six children and two parents were handcuffed and fatally shot in the head at a Houston home by a man with a violent criminal history who had previously been in a relationship with the mother and had a dispute with her, authorities said Sunday.
David Conley, 48, was charged with capital murder in the deaths.
Conley, who is being held in Harris County Jail, did not appear at a court hearing Sunday where an arrest affidavit was read. The judge denied him bond.
The dead were identified as Dewayne Jackson, 50, his wife, Valerie Jackson, 40, and children Nathaniel, 13, Dewayne, 10, Honesty, 11, Caleb, 9, Trinity, 7, and Jonah, 6. Nathaniel was believed to be Conley’s son from the relationship with Valerie Jackson.
“We do not — cannot — fully comprehend the motivation of an individual that would take the lives of so many innocent people, especially the lives of the youngest,” said Chief Deputy Tim Cannon of the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office.
“The killer’s motives appear to be related to a dispute with Valerie, who was a former domestic partner,” he said.
Conley told authorities that he discovered on Saturday morning that the locks had been changed at the house after he had moved out.
He entered the home through an unlocked window, according to the affidavit.
Officers had responded to a request to do a welfare check at the house and got no response at the door. They saw through a window a child on the floor with a gunshot wound.
Police then heard gunshots coming from the front of the house. A standoff ensued between officers and Conley. He later gave himself up to authorities and was arrested.
Court records show Conley’s criminal history extends to at least 1988, with the most recent incident being last month, when he was charged with assault.
In court documents, authorities said the suspect had been arrested for allegedly assaulting Valerie Jackson. The attack occurred at the home where the bodies were found and documents said he was in a dating relationship with her.
Court documents said Conley pushed Valerie Jackson’s head against a refrigerator multiple times after she tried to stop him from disciplining her son with a belt. The case was still pending.
In 2013, Conley was charged with aggravated assault for threatening Jackson with a knife. He pleaded guilty to that charge and was sentenced to nine months in the county jail.
In 2000, he was arrested for retaliation, accused of putting a knife to his thengirlfriend, threatening to kill her, her baby and himself.
That came after she filed an assault charge against him for cutting her with a knife and punching her in the face. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
It was unclear if the woman involved in that incident was Valerie Jackson.