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’.”

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.

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.”

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