BURLINGTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A judge has reduced the verdict of second-degree murder for a babysitter who shook and killed an infant to involuntary manslaughter, according to state officials.
After a jury deliberated for eight hours, Pallavi Machala was convicted of second-degree murder earlier this year in the death of 6-month-old Ridhima Dhekane in March 2014.
But Judge Kenneth Fishman reduced that verdict to involuntary manslaughter Monday, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
During the trial, prosecutors said Machala, who ran a daycare out of her Burlington home, was frustrated by Dhekane’s crying and shook her so hard her brain bled.
The defense said the baby stopped responding after vomiting applesauce.
The baby later died at a hospital.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)