An in-home daycare worker is facing multiple charges following the death of a seven-week-old child. The Macon County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive child at the daycare on May 17.
The child, Maren Bowyer Gallagher, was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead the following day. Taylor Burris, 24, told officers that the girl was sitting in a booster seat when she was hit in the head by a ball thrown by another child.
Investigators were suspicious about the girl's death, noting inconsistencies between the evidence and what Burris told them. On Tuesday (June 14), they brought Burris back in for questioning, and she confessed to lying about what happened. She told detectives that she shook the young girl because she would not stop crying after getting hit in the face with a tennis ball. She admitted that she lied about what happened and tried to come up with a believable story about how the girl was injured.
Burris was arrested and is facing charges of endangering the life and health of a child, aggravated battery to a child resulting in death, and involuntary manslaughter.