Six children and two adults found shot dead in Texas home

[webfact]

Police: Man who killed 8 had a dispute with woman victim
By JUAN A. LOZANO

HOUSTON (AP) — 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, didn't appear at a court hearing Sunday where an arrest affidavit was read. The judge denied him bond.

The dead were identified as parents 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. The Harris County Sheriff's Office had earlier said that there were three adults and five children killed.

"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."

Conley told authorities that he discovered on Saturday morning that the locks had been changed at the home after he had moved out. He entered the home through an unlocked window, according to the affidavit.

Officers later 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 dates back to at least 1988, with the most recent incident last month, when was charged with assault. In court documents, authorities say the suspect had been arrested for allegedly assaulting Valerie Jackson. The attack happened at the home where the bodies were found and documents say 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, he was charged with aggravated assault for threatening Jackson with a knife. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine months in the county jail.

In 2000, he was arrested for retaliation, accused of putting a knife to his then-girlfriend, 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 for retaliation. It was unclear if that woman was Valerie Jackson.

The area around the home was cordoned off Sunday, with sheriff's deputies coming in and out of the house and the medical examiner's office having arrived at the scene.

Neighbor Dalila Mercado says when she arrived home Saturday night officers had already blocked off the area. She said she was sitting in her driveway when she heard gunshots coming from the house and officials then told her and her family to go inside their home.

Mercado said she could still see from her bedroom window and watched as a man was escorted out of the house after midnight. She said officials then had him next to her fence, taking fingerprints and photographs.

"It was shocking. I haven't slept all night," she said.

Mercado says she didn't know the residents of the house well, but would occasionally say hello to a woman and see children waiting to catch the school bus. She said she didn't recognize the man taken out of the house.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-10

Editors:

Calling your attention to key changes in the HOUSTON HOME-MASS SHOOTING stories:

The most recent writethrus correct the number of adults killed from three to two and the number of children killed from five to six, according to authorities. The suspect's age has also been corrected from 49 to 48.

— The AP.

[oneday]

Fast track him to an execution.

[vogie]

Fast track him to an execution.

Bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, why not fast track stricter gun laws?

[Bernard Flint]

I am fed up to the back teeth of crazy americans going on the rampage with weapons, this madness has to stop.

[curtklay]

I share your outrage, Bernard. But what do you suggest to resolve the problem?

American voters have made it clear they are not willing to give up their "right to keep and bear arms".

You can't protect them from themselves.

Edited August 10, 2015 by curtklay

[Friendly Stranger]

Executing children over a <deleted> relationship. Congratulations, I did not think there would be a story to top the last atrocity I read.

It should be feet first into the tree mulching machine for you, sir.

[Friendly Stranger]

It does not matter what side you're on about the subject of gun control in America. It'll never happen, ever. They'll just have to accept these incidents as if they're car accidents. They're inevitable.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Gun control will have no influence on tragedies like this - if he wouldn't have had a gun, he'd most likely stabbed or bludgeoned all of them to death. Problem is in the DNA - natural born monsters are out there and it would be a blessing for the world if such sickos could be erased already in a fetal stage, respectively should parents who carry a high risk to produce potentially deadly and empathy-depraved offspring to be sterilized. It is possible, but it's a highly sensitive topic.

[Emster23]

All I can say is it's about time. USA has had a lull recently in mass shooting. I thought something was amiss. But leave it to Texas to lead the way back to normalcy. I'm a yank, btw.

[chuckd]

All the gun laws in the world would not have stopped this creature from getting a weapon.

My question is why was he out on the streets in the first place?

The judicial system shares much of the blame for this guy to be roaming around at all.

[ronthai]

Just one more sad case added to the list for the American gun nuts.

[Jimlove]

Put him down like a rabbid dog - Spare the taxpayers the trial ...

[mankondang]

This is very, very sad. But, what makes it even sadder is the fact that these shooting events in the States, and the news that they make, are for some, being accepted as unsurprising and possibly the norm.

RIP.

[Time Traveller]

Just one more sad case added to the list for the American gun nuts.

So you think this womans family would be living happily ever after if guns were banned, do you? Did you know that with felony convictions the killer woulnd not legally be allowed to own a gun? Maybe you could explain how gun control would work when he wasn't even supposed to have a gun in the first place?

Do you also make comments about "Knife nuts" when killers murder families like the deaths that occured in Oklahoma 2 weeks ago? All knives, no guns, 5 dead..

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-details-in-stabbing-deaths-of-5-oklahoma-family-members/

Or are you just hypocritical and blind to reality?

Only two things conclusions can be made. People who want to kill wiil kill with whatever then can get the hands on, even illegally.

And secondly, if someone in the womans family owned a firearm, there was a chance - perhaps small - that lives could have been saved.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Time Traveller

[bangon04]

Yes the Gun Lobby supporters will insist that if the 6 kids had all owned assault rifles then this would never have happened.....

[robblok]

Just one more sad case added to the list for the American gun nuts.

So you think this womans family would be living happily ever after if guns were banned, do you? Did you know that with felony convictions the killer woulnd not legally be allowed to own a gun? Maybe you could explain how gun control would work when he wasn't even supposed to have a gun in the first place?

Do you also make comments about "Knife nuts" when killers murder families like the deaths that occured in Oklahoma 2 weeks ago? All knives, no guns, 5 dead..

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-details-in-stabbing-deaths-of-5-oklahoma-family-members/

Or are you just hypocritical and blind to reality?

Only two things conclusions can be made. People who want to kill wiil kill with whatever then can get the hands on, even illegally.

And secondly, if someone in the womans family owned a firearm, there was a chance - perhaps small - that lives could have been saved.

Yea sure .. i like guns.. but the fact that there are almost none available to the public in the Netherlands so there are almost no gun crimes compared with the US.

Just the fact that its so easy to get legal weapons in the US makes it easier for criminals to have them too.

Quite simple and the deaths prove it.

But its not like you can remove all those weapons, they created a problem over there and it will only get worse.

No easy solution as others saying just stricter laws won't help because the guns are already there they wont just disappear .

[Neeranam]

All the gun laws in the world would not have stopped this creature from getting a weapon.

My question is why was he out on the streets in the first place?

The judicial system shares much of the blame for this guy to be roaming around at all.

Rubbish.

America is a country of guns.

And these people have the cheek to criticize Thailand.

[Neeranam]

Just one more sad case added to the list for the American gun nuts.

So you think this womans family would be living happily ever after if guns were banned, do you? Did you know that with felony convictions the killer woulnd not legally be allowed to own a gun? Maybe you could explain how gun control would work when he wasn't even supposed to have a gun in the first place?

Do you also make comments about "Knife nuts" when killers murder families like the deaths that occured in Oklahoma 2 weeks ago? All knives, no guns, 5 dead..

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-details-in-stabbing-deaths-of-5-oklahoma-family-members/

Or are you just hypocritical and blind to reality?

Only two things conclusions can be made. People who want to kill wiil kill with whatever then can get the hands on, even illegally.

And secondly, if someone in the womans family owned a firearm, there was a chance - perhaps small - that lives could have been saved.

Yea sure .. i like guns.. but the fact that there are almost none available to the public in the Netherlands so there are almost no gun crimes compared with the US.

Just the fact that its so easy to get legal weapons in the US makes it easier for criminals to have them too.

Quite simple and the deaths prove it.

But its not like you can remove all those weapons, they created a problem over there and it will only get worse.

No easy solution as others saying just stricter laws won't help because the guns are already there they wont just disappear .

Well they are idiots if they can't make a law like 10 years in jail for having a gun.

[chuckd]

All the gun laws in the world would not have stopped this creature from getting a weapon.

My question is why was he out on the streets in the first place?

The judicial system shares much of the blame for this guy to be roaming around at all.

Rubbish.

America is a country of guns.

And these people have the cheek to criticize Thailand.

You quoted me so I must presume I am the "cheeky" one.

I suggest you don't try and throw me under that bus unless you have some sort of proof that I have ever criticized Thailand.

Let me know as soon as you find the post doing so.

Edited August 11, 2015 by chuckd

[balo]

I normally do not support the death penalty but in this case I guess I can make an exception .

[starky]

Just one more sad case added to the list for the American gun nuts.

So you think this womans family would be living happily ever after if guns were banned, do you? Did you know that with felony convictions the killer woulnd not legally be allowed to own a gun? Maybe you could explain how gun control would work when he wasn't even supposed to have a gun in the first place?

Do you also make comments about "Knife nuts" when killers murder families like the deaths that occured in Oklahoma 2 weeks ago? All knives, no guns, 5 dead..

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-details-in-stabbing-deaths-of-5-oklahoma-family-members/

Or are you just hypocritical and blind to reality?

Only two things conclusions can be made. People who want to kill wiil kill with whatever then can get the hands on, even illegally.

And secondly, if someone in the womans family owned a firearm, there was a chance - perhaps small - that lives could have been saved.

Yea sure .. i like guns.. but the fact that there are almost none available to the public in the Netherlands so there are almost no gun crimes compared with the US.

Just the fact that its so easy to get legal weapons in the US makes it easier for criminals to have them too.

Quite simple and the deaths prove it.

But its not like you can remove all those weapons, they created a problem over there and it will only get worse.

No easy solution as others saying just stricter laws won't help because the guns are already there they wont just disappear .

I agree. Same with Australia what the yanks don't understand is its about reducing all the guns and therefore there availability. However then you get the gun nuts that believe if you had more legal guns then there would be less crime or if they didn't have access to a gun that they would use a knife or a baseball bat discounting how many more and efficiently you can kill with a firearm. In Australia you aren't allowed any rifle with a magazine over 5 rounds, no assault rifles or machine pistols and no auto loaders like pump action shotguns. They are available in very limited numbers to some designated with certain classes of license but are very difficult to obtain.

Edited August 11, 2015 by starky