Irish Nanny Cleared Of Murder In Baby’s Death

Irish Nanny Cleared Of Murder In Baby's

Prosecutors have dropped a murder charge in the case of an Irish nanny accused of killing a one-year-old girl in her care.District Attorney Marian Ryan announced the move on Monday after a medical examiner reversed an earlier decision that Rehma Sabir’s death was a homicide.

Aisling Brady McCarthy, 37, was charged with the girl’s death in 2013 after an initial post-mortem examination indicated she died of complications from blunt-force head injuries.

The girl’s death has now been classified as “undetermined”, Ms Ryan said.

The revised findings indicated Rehma may have had some type of undiagnosed disorder that made her prone to easy bleeding with relatively minor trauma.

“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,” Mr Ryan said in a statement.

Ms McCarthy, of Co Cavan, had been living illegally in the US and was taking care of the girl at her family home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

She was employed by entrepreneur Sameer Sabir, the baby’s father, and his wife Nada Siddiqui, who is originally from Pakistan.

The couple had moved from London to the US. Ms McCarthy worked for them for six months until their baby’s death in January 2013.

Her defence lawyers claimed prosecutors did not have enough evidence to charge Ms McCarthy, and accused them of presenting “false and deceptive” information to a grand jury.

She pleaded not guilty and was granted provisional release on bail and ordered to wear a GPS monitor in May after spending more than two years in jail.

It was not immediately clear if Ms McCarthy would be deported in light of the dropped charge. Her lawyers have not commented on the new developments in her case.

Posted in USA