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A babysitter who permanently disabled a 5-and-a-half-month-old boy by shaking him until his brain bled has pleaded guilty to manslaughter over his death three decades later.
Terry McKirchy, then 22, had been caring for Benjamin Dowling in 1984 at his parents’ Fort Lauderdale, Florida home when she shook him so violently that he suffered a brain hemorrhage that left him with life-altering disabilities.
Dowling died in 2019, at the age of 35, from injuries related to the incident, an autopsy concluded at the time.
In July 2021, McKirchy, who was by then 59, was charged with first-degree murder over Dowling’s death. On Wednesday, McKirchy, who was living in Texas when she was indicted by a Broward County grand jury and arrested by US Marshals in Texas, where she was living, admitted to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Broward assistant public defender David Fry, McKirchy’s attorney, read an apology letter in court to Dowling’s parents, Joe and Rae, in which McKirchy said she had been feeling overwhelmed by life when she caused Benjamin’s grievous injuries.
“It was in a state of impulse and anger that I struck Benjamin while he and other children were crying,” McKirchy, now 62, wrote in the letter, according to the Associated Press. “Your life and Benjamin’s life were truly harmed by me and I am truly sorry.”
Fry did not respond on Wednesday to The Independent’s request for comment and a copy of the letter.
McKirchy’s one-time best friend addressed the court and McKirchy herself, saying, “You sat with me face to face and you denied doing anything to that baby. You told me Benjamin fell off the couch. You lied straight to my face.”
According to the indictment, on July 3, 1984, McKirchy “did… unlawfully and feloniously commit the crime of murder in the first degree by inflicting injuries on Benjamin Keith Dowling, a human being,
“[T]o wit: while Terry Smith McKirchy was engaged in the commission or attempted commission of Aggravated Child Abuse, and as a result of such injuries, Benjamin Keith Dowling did languish and die on September 16, 2019.”
In a statement to announce the murder charge, prosecutors said, “The passage of time between the injuries sustained and the death of the victim were considered by the forensic experts who conducted the autopsy and ruled the death was directly caused by the injuries from 1984. This case was presented to the grand jury, which determined that this was a homicide.”
The autopsy report, signed by Associate Medical Examiner Phoutthasone Thirakul, M.D. and dated December 5, 2019, lists the cause of death as “sequelae of abusive head trauma.” The manner of death is listed as “Homicide (Assaulted by other person).”
In 1985, McKirchy — who was six months pregnant with her third child and had been facing 12 to 17 years — pleaded no contest to attempted murder, receiving a sweetheart sentence of weekends in jail for three months, followed by three years probation. She told reporters she was innocent, and that her conscience was clear.
But once Dowling died, prosecutors were able to re-charge McKirchy with murder.
Benjamin’s life would be irreparably altered by McKirchy, enduring numerous surgeries, eating through a feeding tube, and never being able to speak or walk on his own.
“Benjamin smiled when a familiar voice spoke to him or he heard something that tickled him,” his obituary read. “He was [the] number 1 fan for his talented brother and sister in their many activities and sporting events. He traveled many places in the US and even the Bahamas for a wonderful family reunion. Benjamin taught us all many valuable life lessons and everyone who knew Benjamin was better because they did.”
The Dowling family moved from Fort Lauderdale to the Sarasota area in the 1990s.
When McKirchy was charged with murder in 2021, the family issued a statement about their son without a single mention of his former sitter.
“Benjamin never crawled, fully rolled over, walked, never talked, never fed himself, he never enjoyed a hamburger or an ice cream cone, he could never tell us when he had an itch or anything hurt,” the statement said. “When he cried in pain, we as a family and caregivers had to guess as to what was wrong and hope that we could satisfy his need.”
After she was rearrested in 2021, McKirchy was released on a $100,000 bond. In May, she surrendered to Florida authorities and has remained detained since. At sentencing, McKirchy faces a maximum of 15 years behind bars.
