DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — An in-home daycare worker accused of shaking a baby to death in summer 2022 has accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. 

Thursday morning Taylor Burris accepted a plea deal in which she plead guilty to second degree murder. As a part of the deal the other charges she was facing will be dropped. She was sentenced to 14 years in prison and one year of probation. 

Burris is accused of shaking a 7-week-old baby girl, causing her death in May 2022. 

Emergency medical services and deputies were dispatched to an in-home daycare located in the 100 block of Valerian Dr. in Forsyth for an unresponsive child. She was rushed to a local hospital where she passed away later that night.

Police said Burris first told them the baby, Maren Gallagher, was in a bouncy seat when she was hit in the head by a ball that another child threw. She said there was a red mark on the baby's temple, and she sent a photo of the injury to the newborn's mother. 

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She said she then put Maren down for a nap. After an hour and a half, she said Maren woke up and was given a bottle, but she vomited it back up. 

She was taken to the hospital and died later that day. 

After her death, a pathologist reported she had a contusion to the right temple and cheek, subdural hemorrhage and hemorrhage surrounding the optic nerves and cervical dorsal root ganglia. The pathologist said he saw the hemorrhages to the back neck area and behind the eyes. The results were sent off to a doctor at the University of Chicago Medicine for review. 

She reported preliminary findings that the injuries were caused either by a violent car crash or shaken baby syndrome. She said, since there was no known car crash, she strongly suspected shaken baby syndrome. 

An investigation was launched into the child's death. On June 14 another interview was conducted with Burris. During this interview, police said she confessed she had lied about how Maren got the injury on her face.

She said a dog's tennis ball caused the mark, not a child throwing a softball. She said she lied to the child's mother and police, because she needed a more probable means to account for the injury after she noticed Maren's health declining.

She said Maren started to cry after being hit in the face. Burris said she took her into another room away from the other children, and police said she admitted she shook the baby out of frustration when she would not stop crying. Afterwards, she said she laid her down for a nap. 

The Sangamon County Coroner, Jim Allmon, confirmed Maren Gallagher died at HSHS St. John’s Hospital on May 18 at 3:11 a.m. as an inpatient, after being transported by EMS from a day care in Forsyth.  

Police obtained a warrant for her phone. They said it showed Google searches for "shaken baby syndrome" the evening Maren was in the hospital dying. 

Police said they found more inconsistencies with her first story. They said the 5-year-old child that she initially claimed threw a softball and hit Maren was in school when the incident happened. They said she they tried to say a 3-year-old child had thrown the ball. They also said she lied about how many children were present during the incident, initially saying there were three children there. Officers said there were six children in the home. 

Police interviewed Burris's own 5-year-old daughter who told them she was there when the incident happened but did not remember anything about a ball hitting Maren. 

Burris told police the incident happened around 10:40 a.m., but she did not call EMS until after 2 p.m. 

They said she told dispatch the baby had been unresponsive and impeded or apneic breathing state for 20 minutes before she called 911. 

Police also said doctors found bruising on one of Maren's lungs based on a CAT scan. 

Burris was the only adult home when this occurred. 

Authorities arrested Burris in June 2022. She initially entered a plea of not guilty. 

WAND News asked Burris if she had anything to say about the outcome of her case or if she had a message for the Gallagher family as she left the courtroom Thursday. She did not respond. 

She will be able to file an appeal if she chooses.

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