FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (TCN) — A 62-year-old woman was sentenced to three years in prison after she entered a plea deal for injuring a 5-month-old boy 40 years ago, causing him lifelong trauma that led to his death.
WTVJ-TV reports Terry McKirchy pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the 2019 death of Benjamin Dowling. McKirchy was charged in June 2021 with first-degree murder in the commission or attempted commission of aggravated child abuse. Prosecutors alleged McKirchy injured Dowling on July 3, 1984, which ultimately resulted in him dying on Sept. 16, 2019. She could have faced life in prison if she was convicted.
Court records show McKirchy was charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery of a child on July 6, 1984, and she pleaded no contest to both charges a year later. A judge sentenced her to probation.
According to The Associated Press, McKirchy wrote an apology letter to Dowling’s family, which her attorney read in court. In it, she admitted to hitting Benjamin, who was 5 months old at the time, “in a state of impulse and anger.” As a result, he suffered a brain hemorrhage and required multiple surgeries throughout his life. He never walked, talked, or ate without assistance and was confined to a wheelchair.