A Massachusetts man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the killing two-year-old Bella Bond, who was nicknamed ‘Baby Doe’ after her unidentified body washed up on a beach in the Boston area.
Michael McCarthy was charged with second-degree murder in the 2015 killing of his girlfriend’s daughter. A computer-generated image of the girl was shared by millions on social media after she was dubbed Baby Doe by authorities trying to determine her identity.
The widely shared image showed a chubby-cheeked, brown-eyed girl.
Her body was found inside a trash bag on Deer Island in Winthrop in June 2015 by a woman walking a dog.
The jury had been deliberating since June 20.

Michael McCarthy [right] was charged with second-degree murder in the 2015 killing of his girlfriend’s daughter. On Monday a jury found him guilty of killing the two-year-old girl named Bella Bond [left]

Prosecutors had charged the heroine addicted McCarthy with first-degree murder, but the judge said jurors could also consider two lesser charges, second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
Under a second-degree murder conviction, a person is eligible for parole after serving 15 years in prison.
The judge recessed after the verdict was read to see if there were any objections to McCarthy also being sentenced Monday.
Bella’s mother, Rachelle Bond, and McCarthy were arrested in September 2015 after Bond told a friend McCarthy had killed her daughter.

Rachelle Bond [photo with daughter Bella], and McCarthy were arrested in September 2015. She was present when her boyfriend was slugging her two-year-old daughter. She participated in the disposal of the remains, didn’t inform the authorities and continued collecting state benefits for her daughter.

Michael McCarthy [left] was charged with second-degree murder in the 2015 killing of his girlfriend’s toddler. Bella’s mom, Rachelle Bond [right], was charged and convicted as an accessory to her daughter’s death

Bond pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact for helping McCarthy dispose of the girl’s body.
Under a plea deal with prosecutors, Bond is expected to be released after McCarthy’s trial, serving less than two years in jail.
McCarthy’s lawyer said Bond was the real killer. He called her a ‘monster’ who made up a ‘web of lies’ to put the blame on McCarthy.
The trial included testimony about the girl’s short and tragic life. Both Bond and McCarthy were heroin addicts. A friend testified that McCarthy would lock the girl in a closet to discipline her.
He said McCarthy had been obsessed with the occult for years.

McCarthy steps into court for the verdict, Monday

She said she saw McCarthy punch her in the abdomen so hard she bounced off the mattress.
‘He said it was her time to die, she was a demon,’ Bond said.
McCarthy’s lawyer aggressively cross-examined Bond about why she didn’t call police or report her daughter’s death to anyone. She claimed McCarthy threatened to kill her.
The defense also said prosecutors ‘made a deal with the devil’ in offering Bond time-served in exchange for her testimony against McCarthy.