Kerri-Ann Conley, 27, is the first person to be charged under Queensland’s new definition of murder

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

The mother of two girls who died after exposure to extreme heat inside a car has been remanded in custody after her case went to court.

Kerri-Ann Conley, 27, has been charged with two counts of murder and two drug-related charges. She is the first person to be charged under Queensland’s new definition of murder, which includes reckless indifference to human life.

She did not appear when her matter was mentioned in Brisbane magistrates court on Monday. Conley was remanded in custody to appear in Beenleigh magistrates court on 11 December.

Woman charged after girls found dead in car near Brisbane Read more

The one and two-year-old sisters died inside a black station wagon parked across the front yard of their family home in Logan, south of Brisbane on Saturday.

Paramedics were called but could not revive the one- and two-year-old sisters. They were declared dead at the scene.

Police say the girls showed signs of being exposed to extreme heat.

Officers remained at the home on Sunday, piecing together what happened. Neighbours and community members came and went throughout the day, leaving teddybears and flowers at the front gate, metres from where the black station wagon was parked across the yard.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday said the state’s child safety department had been engaged with the family and will now conduct a child death review, as is protocol.

Attorney general Yvette D’ath will ask Cheryl Vardon, the Queensland Family and Child Commission’s principal commissioner, to investigate what happened.

Palaszczuk said she would release those findings.

“The death of these two young girls is an absolute tragedy,” she said.

“I was heartbroken when I heard about it, I think everybody would be in exactly the same position.”

Child safety minister Di Farmer has said her department would offer police any assistance needed in their investigation.