Six kids slain in Houston massacre
HOUSTON authorities have charged a 48-year-old man with multiple counts of capital murder after deputies discovered the bodies of six children and two adults in a home where the man was arrested.
The man, David Conley, was involved in a standoff with deputies that ended when he was coaxed out of the home by hostage negotiators, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Deputies discovered scene.
‘‘He restrained, shot and killed eight people,’’ Celeste Byrom, an assistant district attorney, said during a court hearing yesterday in which Conley was ordered held without bail, according to the Chronicle.
Byrom said Conley gained access to the home through an unlocked window and restrained
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gruesome his victims using handcuffs before shooting them in the back of the head, according to CBS affiliate KHOU.
Thomas Gilliland, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, told the Chronicle that the relationship between Conley and the victims – who ranged in age from 6 to 50 – remains unclear.
The Chronicle identified the victims as Valerie Jackson, 40, her husband, Dwayne Jackson, 50, and six children: Jonah, 6, Trinity, 7, Caleb, 9, Dwayne Jr, 10, Honesty, 11, and Nathaniel, 13. The Associated Press reported that Nathaniel was believed to be Conley’s son with Valerie Jackson.
Police had earlier described the victims as five children and three adults, and earlier reports had put Conley’s age at 49.
At a news conference yesterday afternoon, Chief Deputy Tim Cannon said the degree of violence was difficult to fathom.
‘‘We’re here today on a very sad day,’’ Cannon said.
‘‘We’re here with our brothers in arms standing behind us because we’re all hurting. It’s a difficult day for us at the sheriff’s office.
‘‘Once again, a tragedy has struck . . . our city. Our hearts go out to those . . . affected by this tragedy.’’
The incident began when authorities arrived at the home around 9pm on Saturday (local time) to perform a welfare check, KHOU reported.
When no one answered the door and authorities learned that Conley was inside and wanted on a warrant for aggravated assault of a family member, deputies surrounded the home.
Gilliland told CNN that deputies surrounding the home decided to enter when a child’s body was spotted through a window.
Conley allegedly began firing a weapon inside the residence, forcing the deputies to pull back and call in a high-risk operations unit, similar to a SWAT unit, and hostage negotiators to the site.
Gilliland told CNN that, after more than an hour, negotiators persuaded Conley to surrender and that he was arrested without further incident.
The Chronicle reported that Conley had a history of violent behaviour that had landed him behind bars as recently as last month, when he allegedly attacked the woman he was dating – Valerie Jackson – by slamming her head into a refrigerator:
‘‘Everybody’s shocked and everybody’s hurt,’’ a teacher from a nearby elementary school who knew the children told the Chronicle.
‘‘They’re good kids, very good kids. And so helpful. Very helpful.
‘‘They’re always sweet kids. I don’t have anything negative to say about that family.’’
Gilliland said counsellors from the sheriff’s office were sent to the residence to help deputies personally process the crime scene.
‘‘It’s hard job being a patrolman in this town,’’ Gilliland said.
‘‘Our deputies do a yeoman’s job every day.
‘‘But when they are forced to see some of the most horrific things along this nature, especially of children, and someone so callous to do something like this to children, we have our family assistance talk to our deputies and help them decompress.’’
Due the number of victims, Gilliland said investigators were expected to be at the crime scene for ‘‘quite a while’’.