Taylor Burris, a 24-year-old in-home daycare worker in Illinois, is in custody after being accused of fatally injuring an infant by shaking her.
Burris told authorities that on May 17, she was taking care of Maren Gallagher who was 7 weeks old. She stated that the baby had been struck in the head with a ball by another child.
She said that she then put the baby down for a nap and gave her a bottle 90 minutes later. When Maren started to vomit, she was transported to a hospital. The baby died the next day.
An autopsy was conducted and initial findings stated that the the child’s wounds were caused by “a violent car crash or shaken baby syndrome.” Because there was no known car crash, shaken baby syndrome was strongly suspected.
Eventually, Burris admitted to shaking Maren. She said that the baby was hit with a ball but wouldn’t stop crying. Thus, she began to shake the baby.
Burris confessed to not calling authorities until four hours after the incident. In the call to 911, she told dispatchers that the baby had been unresponsive for about 20 minutes.
While analyzing Burris’ phone, investigators found that she had Googled “shaken baby syndrome” after the baby had been hurt.
Burris is being held on a $250,000 bond. She has been charged with involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide, aggravated battery, and endangering the life of a child.
She is set to appear in court again on July 15.
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