Murder charge dropped against Irish nanny in US girl’s death

FILE - In this July 30, 2015 file photo, Aisling Brady McCarthy leaves court proceedings at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, Mass. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced Monday, Aug. 31, 2015, that the murder charge against the Irish nanny had been dropped because the medical examiner issued an amended ruling changing the manner of death to "undetermined." McCarthy had been charged with murder in the death of Rehma Sabir in Cambridge, Mass., in 2013. Her lawyers had challenged the medical examiner's earlier findings that the girl died of complications of blunt-force head injuries. (Keith Bedford//The Boston Globe via AP, Pool, File) FILE - In this July 30, 2015 file photo, Aisling Brady McCarthy leaves court proceedings at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, Mass. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced Monday, Aug. 31, 2015, that the murder charge against the Irish nanny had been dropped because the medical examiner issued an amended ruling changing the manner of death to "undetermined." McCarthy had been charged with murder in the death of Rehma Sabir in Cambridge, Mass., in 2013. Her lawyers had challenged the medical examiner's earlier findings that the girl died of complications of blunt-force head injuries. (Keith Bedford//The Boston Globe via AP, Pool, File)

By Associated Press August 31, 2015 3 min read

BOSTON (AP) – A murder charge has been dropped against an Irish nanny accused of killing a 1-year-old girl in her care after a state medical examiner reversed a finding that the child’s death was a homicide caused by shaken baby syndrome, prosecutors announced Monday.

Aisling Brady McCarthy, 37, was charged with killing Rehma Sabir in Cambridge in 2013. McCarthy insisted she was innocent and her lawyers vigorously challenged the medical examiner’s findings that Rehma died of complications of blunt-force head injuries.

In a written statement, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced that the murder charge was dropped because the medical examiner issued an amended ruling changing the manner of death to “undetermined.”

Ryan said the medical examiner found Rehma had past medical issues and may have had some type of undiagnosed disorder.

“Based on an assessment of the present state of the evidence, including the amended ruling from the Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy, the Commonwealth cannot meet its burden of proof,” Ryan said.