Bombshell development in babysitter murder case
A WARWICK babysitter charged with murder of a two-year-old boy who was in her care is expected to plead guilty to a lesser charge this week.
Lisa Rose Halcrow is scheduled to appear in person before the Toowoomba Supreme Court on Tuesday where it is believed the charge of murder will be formally replaced by a charge of manslaughter.
The 42-year-old woman is expected to plead guilty to that charge, avoiding a murder trial that had initially been set down for the Toowoomba Supreme Court this week.
Ms Halcrow’s Toowoomba-based barrister, David Jones, had the case mentioned before Supreme Court Justice David Boddice on Monday during a “chorus call” callover of matters set down for the two-week sittings of the Supreme Court in Toowoomba from Tuesday.
A chorus call is where legal representatives of matters set down for the court appear collectively by phone before the court which was held in Brisbane on Monday.
Ms Halcrow was charged with murder and grievous bodily harm of toddler Connor Horan, who had been in her care on August 19, 2018. She rushed the toddler to hospital where he was found to be suffering multiple head and internal injuries.
How those injuries are said to have occurred has not as yet been made public by police or the prosecution.
Despite medical teams performing CPR on Connor for about 30 minutes, he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Ms Halcrow was eventually charged with Connor’s murder in February 2020 and has remained in custody since.
It is expected Ms Halcrow’s sentence will be adjourned to a later date.