After a lifetime of severe disability brought on by a brain hemorrhage he had in 1984 in Terry McKirchy’s Florida house, Benjamin Dowling passed away in 2019 at the age of 35.
Investigators had long thought that she had shaken him, which is why he was injured, but McKirchy, 62, denied ever injuring him. An autopsy performed in 2021 found that his injuries were decades old.
She entered a plea agreement with prosecutors on Wednesday, admitting guilt to the lesser charge of manslaughter, while being charged with first-degree murder in the same year.
Melissa, Benjamin’s younger sister, noted that her brother’s presence “was a constant source of inspiration.”
When Benjamin was born on January 13, 1984, his parents, Rae and Joe Dowling, had been married for four years. Rae hired McKirchy, who was 22 at the time, to babysit from her Fort Lauderdale home.
Investigators were informed by Mrs. Dowling that on July 3, Benjamin was limp and had clenched fists when she picked him up from McKirchy.
After she hurried him to the hospital, the medical staff determined that he had experienced a severe shaking-induced brain hemorrhage.
