Family of Houston mass murder victims reveals pleas for help before murders took place

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The family of a woman who was killed in northwest Harris County, along with her husband and six children, says the deaths could have been prevented.

Valerie Jackson's family says they told the Harris County Sheriff's Office that David Conley was at the house with a gun. And they tell Eyewitness News their local police department in Minnesota also told the sheriff's office that he was there with a gun. They say someone dropped the ball and it may have cost their eight loved ones their lives.

PHOTOS: Scene where 6 children and 2 adults were found dead

"This began with some initial Facebook posts, three of them in a row, generally posted to Facebook by Valerie stating she needed help," said family spokesperson Jesi Greening. "She needed someone to call the police. That this was not a joke, and please do not comment."

According to the family's timeline, Valerie Jackson typed 911 four times in a Facebook message to her mother at 10:23 Saturday morning. At 10:25, her mother replied "trying to."

At 10:27, the family spokesperson says Valerie typed "He has phone and will ring. Dvd has gun," referring to David Conley, the man accused of killing the family of eight.

"At 11:57 a.m., Valerie responded and said they knocked, left. And that was the last contact we had with Valerie," Greening said.

Deputies did three more welfare checks. On the final one, they spotted a child's body through a window.

Family tells us it wasn't until after 9pm Saturday that the sheriff's office told them they'd learned about the warrant out for David Conley's arrest. That warrant was for beating Valerie Jackson's head into a refrigerator. Greening says they were told deputies didn't have probable cause to enter the home until they found that information. But family says they'd been trying to get authorities in Harris County to take that information seriously the whole day.

"Why was that option not explored earlier in the day when they were well aware that we told them who it was and that there was a gun present?" she wonders. "Had the house been entered the first time, we know for a fact via these posts and text messages that Valerie was still alive. She was there when they knocked and left."

The family believes somebody could have been saved had deputies gone in sooner.

Jackson's family says they plan to pursue civil action against the sheriff's office, as well as an internal affairs investigation. A sheriff's office spokesman says they're not allowed to comment because of a gag order from the judge handling this case.

The funeral will be Monday at Fallbrook Church. It starts at noon. But the family still needs help covering the funeral and burial costs, and the cost to get the bodies back to Minnesota. There's a new way to donate directly to the funeral home handling the arrangements.