(NECN: Eileen Curran) - Aisling McCarthy Brady kept her face turned from the camera as she arrived in a police cruiser at Cambridge District Court Tuesday morning.
Inside, she stayed hidden behind her lawyer and a court officer.
The 34-year-old nanny from Quincy, Mass. stands accused of severely beating a 1-year-old girl in her care.
"The diagnosis for the injuries is abusive head trauma that would be consistent with very violent shaking, a very violent shaking impact," Katharine Folger, Middlesex Assistant District Attorney, told the court.
Brady was caring for Rahanna Sabir in the child’s Cambridge, Mass. home last Monday on the girl’s first birthday. Brady told police when she went to get the baby from her nap, she was having seizures.
Rahanna was taken to Boston Children’s Hospital where she died two days later.
Prosecutors said some of the girl’s injuries were old, but Brady’s attorney said her client hadn’t been with the child much recently because the family had been traveling extensively.
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"For the last five weeks she had been traveling to London, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia," said Attorney Melinda Thompson. She denied Brady hurt the child, saying "I have no idea what happened to this child, I hope no one injured this child."
Brady had a profile on Sittercity.com, a website that matches nannies with families. A spokesperson for the company said they do extensive background checks on every nanny.
In a written statement, the company said, "Immediately upon learning of this situation, we removed Ms. Brady from the Sittercity network, terminated her membership and notified members with whom she had ever communicated. Ms. Brady has not been active on Sittercity for nearly a year."
Brady pleaded not guilty to assault and battery of a child, but faces more serious charges.
"We do expect the charges upgraded to homicide," said Folger.
Brady is from Ireland. NECN checked with US Immigration officials. They said Brady entered the country in 2002 on a 90 day tourist visa. Now, in addition to the criminal charges in the baby’s death, she also faces deportation.
Below is Brady's photo:
