Mourners remember murdered family of 8 in Texas
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas -A day after eight members of one family, including six children, were killed in their home, neighbors and loved ones began arriving at the scene of tragedy Sunday to pay respects, reports CBS affiliate KHOU.
An impromptu memorial sits outside the house where the victims lived. Police say David Conley broke into the home Saturday and executed Valerie Jackson, her husband Dewayne and six children, Nathaniel, 13, Honestly, 11, Dewayne Jr., 10, Caleb, 9, Trinity, 7, and Jonah, 6 . Conley previously had a relationship with Valerie Jackson, according to police, and Nathaniel was Conley and Valerie Jackson's son. Dewayne was the father of the other five children.
Near the house's front door memorial, where candles, balloons and flowers were placed, KHOU spoke with neighbor Kathy Sysongkim. She said she loved the children as if they were her own.
"They would play ball over here," Sysongkim said, adding that on a normal Sunday, she expected to hear the kids playing in the street. "They were good kids."
This week the sounds coming from the street were cries of sorrow and prayers.
"You killed the kids, why?" Sysongkim said through tears. "Why? They didn't do anything. It's not one or two, it's eight in the family."
Jaelen, a teen who said he was friends with Nathaniel, told KHOU that the boy suffered child abuse at the hands of Conley.
"He said his dad tried to beat him, sometimes he came home crying to us," Jaelen said.
Still, Sysongkim and other neighbors said they are trying to understand how someone could kill children.
"I don't know why it got so bad," said Sysongkim. "I cannot believe it."