After a head injury as a baby, Benjamin Dowling died more than three decades later. His former babysitter just pleaded guilty in his death

(CNN) — A former babysitter in Florida has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty in connection with the death of a man she was accused of disabling when he was a baby in her care 40 years ago.

After long denying she hurt Benjamin Dowling, 62-year-old Terry McKirchy admitted she injured Dowling and pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a Broward County courtroom Wednesday. A judge sentenced her to three years in prison, followed by 10 years of felony probation.

Dowling was five months old when doctors told his family he was shaken so badly that nerves were severed, leaving him with severe brain damage.

McKirchy pleaded no contest to attempted first degree murder and aggravated battery on a child in 1985. She was sentenced to weekends in jail for 60 days and three years of probation.

Dowling spent his entire life severely disabled before he died at age 35 on September 16, 2019.

In 2021, prosecutors charged McKirchy with first-degree murder, citing a medical examiner’s report that found Dowling’s death was a direct result of the injuries he sustained in 1984. McKirchy was facing life in prison before pleading guilty Wednesday to the lesser manslaughter charge as part of a deal with prosecutors.

A mourning family demands accountability

Everyone who knew Benjamin Dowling was better for it, his mother, Rae Dowling, told the court Wednesday.

She described the way her son’s family and community rallied around him to give him a life with as much opportunity and adventure possible, despite everything that he missed out on.

“Benjamin never enjoyed a traditional school setting, never went to a homecoming dance, senior prom or graduation. He never drove a car, had a girlfriend, or got to play with his sister or brother,” Dowling said. “Benjamin was never able to say he loved his mother or father, or any member of his family.”

“Benjamin was profoundly disabled every minute of every day, all 35 years that he lived, because of what Terry McKirchy did to him while he was in her care on July 3, 1984,” she continued.

The Dowlings were introduced to a 22-year-old McKirchy through a cousin of Benjamin’s father, Dowling said. They knew McKirchy was a mother with childcare experience, so they entrusted her with Benjamin’s care, she said.

Dowling read a passage from a journal she kept 40 years ago, describing the state in which she found her baby boy when she picked him up from Terry’s house on that Tuesday in July.

“He was sitting in his car seat, whiter than a ghost, fists clenched, moaning and gazing into space. He didn’t know who I was. I knew something was wrong, and I got out of there as soon as I could,” Dowling read.

She took Benjamin to the hospital, where she learned he was very ill. The doctors, suspecting trauma, called police, she said.

“For all intents and purposes, Benjamin’s short, 173-day, five-month and three-week life was over,” she said.

As part of her plea agreement, McKirchy wrote a letter of apology to Benjamin’s parents. Her lawyer read that letter aloud in the courtroom Wednesday.

“I recall being extremely overwhelmed and exhausted while looking after all the children in my home, and it was in this state, out of impulse and anger, that I struck Benjamin while he and other children were crying,” the letter read.

“Your lives, Benjamin’s life and well being were all harmed by me. For that I am truly sorry,” the letter continued.

CNN reached out to a lawyer for McKirchy, who declined to comment.

Shaken Baby Syndrome

Medical experts use the term shaken baby syndrome to refer to a type of abusive head trauma that can result from violent shaking or shaking and impacting a baby’s or small child’s head, which can potentially result in death or permanent neurological disability, according to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome.

The group says about 80% of victims suffer lifelong disabilities and about 25% die from their injuries.

Babies less than a year old are most at risk of abusive head trauma, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly all victims experience long term health consequences, which can include vision problems, hearing loss, developmental delays and physical disabilities, the agency says.

Experts say that this type of abuse often happens when babies are crying inconsolably – as infants are prone to do – and a caregiver shakes them out of frustration or anger.

In recent years, a trend has emerged in defense of those who cause abusive head trauma, with witnesses telling courts that the science behind shaken baby syndrome has been debunked.

Some medical authorities have shifted to using the term “abusive head trauma” instead of shaken baby syndrome to acknowledge the abuse can be caused by actions other than shaking. While experts say the wording shift has been misinterpreted by some in legal and medical circles as doubt about the diagnosis, research published by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows this type of trauma is real and preventable.

The academy recommends pediatricians watch for the signs and symptoms of abusive head trauma and report suspected cases to authorities.

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CNN’s Sandee LaMotte contributed to this report.