Babysitter guilty of manslaughter 40 years after hitting baby boy – who grew up with severe disabilities
A former babysitter has pleaded guilty to manslaughter 40 years after hitting a five-month-old baby numerous times in her care.
Benjamin Dowling died aged 35 in 2019, after a lifetime of severe disabilities caused by a brain haemorrhage he suffered in 1984 at Terry McKirchy’s home in Florida.
Investigators long believed she caused the injury by shaking him, but McKirchy, 62, denied hurting him – until a 2021 autopsy concluded he died from decades-old injuries.
She was accused of first-degree murder that same year, pleading guilty on Wednesday to the lesser charge of manslaughter in a deal struck with prosecutors.
“Benjamin’s presence was a constant source of inspiration,” his younger sister Melissa said.
“He never walked or talked or got the chance to say, ‘I love you’.”
Benjamin Dowling was never able to walk, talk or feed himself after the assault Pic: Broward State Attorney’s Office
Parents Rae and Joe Dowling had been married for four years when Benjamin was born on 13 January 1984 and hired McKirchy, then 22, to babysit from her Fort Lauderdale home.
Mrs Dowling told investigators when she picked up Benjamin from McKirchy on 3 July his body was limp and his fists were clenched.
She rushed him to hospital, where doctors concluded he had suffered a brain haemorrhage from severe shaking.
Benjamin Dowling died 35 years after he was injured Pic: Dowling family
McKirchy was arrested within days and pleaded no contest to attempted murder in 1985 – which means she refused to admit guilt but accepted punishment.
That punishment stunned Benjamin’s parents, as McKirchy – who was six months’ pregnant and faced up to 17 years in prison – was sentenced to weekends in jail until giving birth.
She insisted she was innocent, telling reporters at the time her “conscience is clear” and she took the deal to put the case behind her and be with her two other children.
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But a grand jury indicted McKirchy in 2021 and in a letter of apology she admitted she struck baby Benjamin after feeling overwhelmed by taking care of numerous children.
“It was in a state of impulse and anger that I struck Benjamin while he and other children were crying,” she wrote.
“Your life and Benjamin’s life were truly harmed by me and I am truly sorry.”
The New York Times reports she was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday, when Benjamin’s parents got to talk about his life in court with her present.
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“Benjamin taught us all many valuable lessons, and everyone who knew Benjamin was better because they did know him,” Mrs Dowling told Circuit Judge George Odom Jr.
A photo montage was also shown of Benjamin, who spent his life in a wheelchair, through the years with his family.
McKirchy, who now lives in Sugar Land, Texas, showed no emotion in court as the pictures showed how Benjamin’s parents and two siblings worked to include him.
“He was so strong,” his mother said. “We thought he would live forever.”
Thousands of people gathered in various cities across the US as protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place in all 50 states on Saturday.
Around 1,200 demonstrations were planned in locations including Washington DC, New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida – just miles away from where the US president has this weekend played golf.
The “Hands Off!” protests were against the Trump administration’s handling of government downsizing, human rights and the economy, among other issues.
In Washington DC, protesters streamed on the grass in front of the Washington Monument, where one person carried a banner which read: “Make democracy great again.”
Thousands gathered in Washington DC to rally against various Trump policies. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Another protester took aim at Mr Trump‘s handling of Russia and Ukraine, with a placard that read: “Stop Putin’s puppets from destroying America.”
Tesla boss Mr Musk also featured on many signs due to his role in controversial government cuts as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Demonstrators in NYC. Pic: AP
People marching in Atlanta, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
A rally in Vermont. Pic: The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist, said she drove to the rally to protest Mr Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to the tariffs this week, to education”.
“I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is,” she added.
A drone view of the protest at the Utah State Capitol building. Pic Reuters
A protester sports a Handmaid’s Tale costume. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Some at the various protests carried Ukrainian flags, while others sported rainbow attire and waved rainbow flags in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Other protesters wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried “Free Palestine” signs.
Thousands marched in New York City’s midtown Manhattan and in Boston, Massachusetts, while hundreds gathered in the sunshine outside the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City, and in the rain outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
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Mr Trump – who shook financial markets with his tariffs announcement this week – spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf before returning to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
People protest in Manhattan. Pic: Reuters
Activists in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Pic: AP
Some four miles from Mar-a-Lago, more than 400 people gathered – and drivers honked their horns in support of protesters who held up signs including one which read: “Markets tank, Trump golfs.”
The White House has said Mr Trump plans to go golfing again on Sunday.
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