Babysitter pleads guilty to death of man she injured as a baby

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A former babysitter pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter in the 2019 death of a man she allegedly disabled as a toddler 40 years ago.

Terry McKirchy, 62, accepted a settlement for the death of Benjamin Dowling, who died at 35 after living a life of severe disabilities caused by a brain hemorrhage he suffered in 1984, when he was 5 months old, while staying at McKirchy's suburban Fort Lauderdale home. Investigators believed she caused the injury by shaking him.

In an apology letter read to Dowling's parents by her attorney, Assistant Public Defender David Fry, McKirchy said she felt overwhelmed and exhausted from caring for so many children and struck him, causing him to suffer injuries.

McKirchy, who now lives in Sugar Land, Texas, was indicted on a first-degree murder charge by a Broward County grand jury three years ago after an autopsy found Dowling died from injuries sustained decades ago. He never crawled, walked, talked or fed himself, his family said.

She voluntarily checked herself into the Broward County Jail on May 29 after being released on $100,000 bail shortly after her arraignment.

This is not the first time McKirchy has taken a plea deal in connection with Dowling's injuries. She received an exceptionally lenient sentence after pleading guilty to attempted murder in 1985. At the time, she was six months pregnant with her third child and faced 12 to 17 years in prison. She was sentenced to weekend detention until her child was born, then released and placed on probation for three years.

At the time, she insisted she was innocent and told reporters that her “conscience was clear.” She said at the time that she accepted the deal because she wanted to put the case behind her and be with her children.

Prosecutors called the sentence “therapeutic” but did not provide further explanation at the time. Ryal Gaudiosi, McKirchy's public defender at the time, said the sentence was “fair under the circumstances.” He died in 2009.

Rae and Joe Dowling had been married for four years when Benjamin was born on January 13, 1984. Both Dowlings worked, so they hired McKirchy, then 22, to look after him in their home.

Rae Dowling told investigators that when she picked Benjamin up from McKirchy on July 3, 1984, his body was limp and his fists were clenched. She took him to the hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a brain hemorrhage due to the severe shaking. McKirchy was arrested within days.

The Dowlings told reporters in 1985 that they were stunned when prosecutors told them, minutes before a trial, what deal McKirchy would make.

The Dowlings said in a 2021 statement that Benjamin had to undergo several surgeries in his life, including the insertion of metal rods along his spine. He was fed through a feeding tube and attended rehab and special education classes. The Dowlings had two more children and took Benjamin to their games and performances. The family moved to Florida's Gulf Coast in the late 1990s. He died at their home on September 16, 2019.

“Benjamin would never know how much he was loved and he would never be able to tell others about his love for them,” they said. “Benjamin smiled when he was with his family, although he could never put anything into words. We believe he knew who we were and that we were working hard to help him.”

Shaken baby syndrome first gained national attention in the 1970s when it was used to explain the sudden deaths of infants and young children who showed no outward signs of abuse. The diagnosis was made when the child had brain swelling, bleeding on the surface of the brain, and bleeding behind the retina.

But over the past 25 years, research has shown that these symptoms can also be caused by genetic problems, diseases and accidents. The University of Michigan's National Registry of Exonerations lists 29 shaken baby syndrome convictions that have been overturned since 2000.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which now uses the term “abusive head trauma,” about 1 in 3,000 babies under one year of age are abused by shaking each year, and about a quarter of those suffer fatal injuries.

It says that doctors should look for bruising on the trunk, ears and neck in children under four years of age, and any bruising in infants under four months of age, as this indicates possible tremors.