Babysitter Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter 40 Years After Shaking Incident in 1984 Led to Baby’s Death
Someone admitted to killing for the death of a man she shook badly when he was a baby, 35 years ago.
Benjamin Dowling was 6 months old when Terry McKirchy shook him on July 3, 1984, while she was watching him in Florida. NBC News said that McKirchy was 22 years old at the time.
A plea memo that PEOPLE looked at says Dowling had “shaken baby syndrome” and cerebral edema, which left him permanently disabled and finally killed him. He passed away in September 2019.
Soon after, two years later, a grand jury in Broward County charged McKirchy with felony murder. Soon after, authorities say, plea deal talks began.
Right after the event, McKirchy was charged with trying to kill someone. She admitted to trying to kill someone and hitting a child very badly in 1985, but she didn’t go to jail. Instead, she was put on probation for less than three years.
Someone from the office of the Broward County State’s Attorney tells PEOPLE that McKirchy pleaded guilty on August 21.
As part of her plea deal, McKirchy will go to prison for 36 months and get credit for time already spent there. The letter says that she will be on probation for 10 years after she gets out of jail.
Along with an apology letter, McKirchy has to write a full account of what she did in July 1984.
The plea memo says that Dowling’s parents directly asked for the letter as part of any solution.
You can go to www.childhelp.org or call 1-800-4-A-CHILD, which is the National Child Abuse Hotline if you think a child is being abused. No one will be able to hear your calls for any reason. 24/7, the number can be called in more than 170 languages.