https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...orities-say/wLIDYWKmrIBZZgBExcWRsI/story.html
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The detectives working the case of the little girl found dead on a Deer Island beach clung for nearly three months to one grim hope: that the child had not suffered in her final moments.
Her tiny body, discovered in a trash bag on June 25, showed none of the usual signs of violence.
But on Friday, investigators unraveled the long-kept secret: the girl was Bella Bond, 2 1/2, and her death was an act of brutal violence. The girl’s mother told investigators that
her boyfriend had lashed out at Bella as being possessed, or a demon, according to an official briefed on the case. The mother said that he punched Bella in the stomach until her body went lifeless.
The girl’s mother was identified as Rachelle Bond, 40; the man charged with killing the girl was identified as Michael McCarthy, 35
. McCarthy on Friday was hospitalized at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, suffering from abscesses in his arms from shooting up heroin, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. McCarthy is not the biological father of the child.
--more@link.