Michael McCarthy found guilty of killing 2-year-old Bella Bond, silent when decision was announced
Justice is served as Michael McCarthy was convicted this morning of killing of two-year-old Bella Bond, offering up no visible reaction as the court rendered their decision.
Once called the “Baby Doe case” as it unfolded in 2015, Bond’s murder involved McCarthy punching the girl in the abdomen so hard that she bounced off a bed as well as Bella’s mother who plea bargained.
Rachelle Bond pleaded guilty as an accessory, helping McCarthy dispose of the body and was silent about the crime, claiming she was afraid of McCarthy.
Bella Bond
The man now faces mandatory life in prison with a chance for parole in 15 years and will be be sentenced on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
McCarthy stood in handcuffs, wearing a light brown colored jacket, and remained emotionless as the verdict was delivered after the jury of eight men and four women took a little over 23 hours, spread out over five days, to reach their decision.
Prosecutor David Deakin contended that McCarthy was obsessed with the occult and brought a “a cloud of trouble” to Rachelle Bond’s home, including heroin, then he moved in with her in early 2015.
“Justice for Bella,” the gir’s godmother Megan Fewtrell said to the press. “Finally justice for Bella.”
McCarthy’s defense attorney, Jonathan Shapiro, disagrees and promises to appeal the conviction.
“Today, there is no justice for Bella Bond,” Shapiro said.
Jurors could also have opted to convict him of involuntary manslaughter or find him not guilty of any of those charges.
“We don’t take any joy here,” Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said after the verdict was read. “Any lost life is heartbreaking and tragic, but any time someone so young and so innocent is lost, it magnifies the pain and the sorrow to awful proportions. An innocent life was not only snuffed out but callously discarded, and that offends everyone who believes that every human life is precious and deserving of love and respect.”
Prosecutors said McCarthy killed Bella because he thought she was a “demon,” but the defense said the girl’s mother.
