Grandmother of toddler Connor Horan reveals anguish after Warwick babysitter pleads guilty

Debbie Ballard rocked the lifeless body of her grandson Connor for half an hour, telling him how much she and his mother loved him, before having to leave the toddler killed by his own babysitter. Read her incredible story.

While the woman who this week admitted to killing a Warwick toddler sits in a jail cell awaiting her fate, the little boy’s grieving grandmother Debbie Ballard reflects on two pivotal moments that changed the course of her own life.

The first is the day she became a grandmother again on her birthday, watching as her daughter Emily gave birth to a perfect little boy named Connor, who was in no hurry to make his entrance.

“He was eight days overdue. I kept telling Emily, ‘he’s waiting for my birthday, he’s waiting for my birthday’,” Mrs Ballard said.

“But she was saying, ‘No, that’s too long’. But he did. He was born on my birthday.”

The second, which she recounts through tears of heartache, was cradling that same beautiful boy’s lifeless body in her arms after watching medical staff spend 30 desperate minutes trying to save his life.

“I cut his (umbilical) cord and that was a moment of real pride for me. I was the first one to hold him and handed him to his mother,” she said.

“And I was the last one to hold him. After he died, (hospital staff) wrapped Connor up like a cocoon and all I could see was the tip of his nose.

“I rocked him for half an hour and told him how much he was loved and how much his mother loved him.

“Then I had to lay him down on that bed and walk away and leave him there.

“That is the hardest thing I have ever had to do.”

Debbie Ballard with Warwick toddler Connor Horan who was killed while in the care of babysitter Lisa Halcrow.

Connor was just two years old when he was killed by his babysitter, Warwick woman Lisa Rose Halcrow.

The 42-year-old, once a trusted family friend, was meant to be caring for Connor over the weekend in August 2018.

Mrs Ballard says a phone call from Halcrow sent the world she knew crashing down.

‘BIG CRACK ON HIS HEAD’

“She called me and said something happened and I asked how bad it was, and she said it was bad,” Mrs Ballard said.

“So I told her to get him straight to the hospital – she wasn’t going to take him.”

The frantic grandmother said she arrived at the hospital to see Connor “bruised and with a big crack on the back of his head”, and she already knew he was gone.

“Seeing him that day and watching them try to revive him is the most horrific thing I have been through in my life,” she said.

“Watching them doing CPR and knowing he was dead. I was screaming to the universe to bring him back.”

Warwick woman Debbie Ballard has vowed to continue to be the voice for her grandson, Connor Horan, who was killed while in the care of his babysitter.

‘I JUST DROPPED TO THE GROUND’

Mrs Ballard said a Coroner’s report revealed Connor died from asphyxiation, and suffered head and internal injuries.

“I just dropped to the ground and couldn’t believe it, it wasn’t head injuries (that killed him),” she said.

“He also had multiple head injuries, stomach injuries, bruising all over his body (and) under his face was torn.”

She said within days of her grandson’s death, she started to suspect Halcrow wasn’t telling the truth about Connor’s final moments.

“The first week that it happened, she told me she couldn’t remember what position she found Connor in and I knew instantly there were red flags,” she said.

“If you found a child in that sort of state, you would know what position he was in.”

With her suspicions of something more sinister, Mrs Ballard said she had to wait for the truth to come out while she battled with her crushing grief.

“I didn’t talk to her from then because I wanted the truth and knew she wouldn’t tell me,” she said.

“I just had to wait for the truth to come out and knew the physical evidence and his body would tell us the truth.”

Supporters including Pat, Marion, and Bernadette, wearing shirts in support of Connor Horan's family during a court sittings, have never given up hope for justice. Photo: contributed

‘I DIDN’T LEAVE MY BEDROOM FOR 18 MONTHS’

Unable to work, leave her house and at one point suffering a heart attack from the stress of losing her grandson, Mrs Ballard said she was eventually able to pull herself together for Connor.

“I didn’t leave my bedroom for 18 months, until they told me about the Coroner’s report,” she said.

“Being locked in my bedroom was the only way I could cope with the anxiety and panic attacks, which were so severe I thought I was having a heart attack.

“I went from my bedroom to my loungeroom once she was arrested, then slowly said to myself I had to get my sh-t together and get stronger to fight this battle.”

The next two years were dedicated to being a voice for the little boy whose life was tragically cut short, robbing his family of their dreams for his future.

Warwick woman Lisa Halcrow, 42, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of two-year-old Connor Horan.

Halcrow this week pleaded guilty to the little boy’s manslaughter, after an earlier murder charge was downgraded.

Mrs Ballard said she also saw “red flags” in the months leading up to Connor’s death and said she made Halcrow, who was also her work colleague, promise to stay away from Connor and his mother.

‘SHE BECAME OBSESSED WITH CONNOR’

“She became obsessed with Connor and even people from work and everywhere noticed it as well,” she said.

“I tried my hardest to stop it but I feel like I let my grandson down.”

Connor’s mother told a committal hearing in Warwick Magistrates Court in July last year that Connor became “distressed” at the mention of Halcrow’s name or while being dropped at daycare, but she put it down to typical toddler behaviour.

While a guilty plea has brought the matter closer to a resolution, Mrs Ballard said she was filled with “disgust” that the murder charge was reduced to manslaughter.

“It has taken her four years and 83 days to finally admit the truth that it wasn’t just an accident,” she said.

“She kept telling anyone who would listen that she loved Connor and she would never harm him.

“We had to wait years through all the bulls--t to finally get to a trial, just to be told they aren’t doing a trial and it was going to be manslaughter.

“My only thoughts is that the truth is finally coming out and her lies can’t be covered up any longer.”

Warwick toddler Connor Horan and his doting grandmother shared the same birthday, a day she now says is filled with sadness and loss.

With just one more step to go before the legal processes are finalised, Mrs Ballard said she would continue to be a voice for the boy she loved so dearly.

‘I WILL DO IT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE’

“He was an absolutely gorgeous baby, always happy all the time. He was one of those babies that rarely ever cried, he was just a little angel,” Mrs Ballard said.

“Every time he used to see me he would do a happy dance and swing his bottom and swing his arms up in the air and wanted Grandma.”

As her birthday approaches each year, Mrs Ballard says she makes a special tribute to the boy gone too soon.

“I don’t have joy on my birthday any more because he isn’t here to share it with us,” she said.

“But for the past four years I have placed a candle on my cake for him and I will do it for the rest of my life.”