Report: Toddler Bella's killer had thought she was possessed

[shenmue]

CNN story here

From the article:

Before the end of her short life, little Bella Bond was allegedly punched by her mother's boyfriend because he thought she was possessed, a law enforcement source involved in the investigation told CNN on Saturday.

[smirkymonkey]

1. More like he was higher than a kite.

Poor little girl, she didn't stand a chance. The whole situation is just so tragic.

[Warpy]

3. Crackpot religion didn't help the situation

This poor little girl never had a chance with those two.

Her death means better parents are hugging their kids a little more these days.

[struggle4progress]

9. That the biological dad (who dumped the biological mom because of her prostitution history) says

he believes the biological mom -- when she says her boyfriend (who seems to have a history of drug abuse and domestic violence) killed the girl because he thought she was possessed -- may not be much of a basis for reliably determining actual circumstances and motive

[JI7]

11. seems like he dumped his child along with the mother

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. The police found books on demonology there; a friend said McCarthy had talked about demons

‘It Was Her Time To Die,’ Boyfriend Allegedly Said Of Toddler Found On Deer Island

According to Deakin, Bond told investigators she knew her daughter was dead but McCarthy wouldn’t say what he did. McCarthy did, however, say “she was a demon anyway, it was her time to die,” Deakin said. Bond told investigators that McCarthy said he would kill her if she went to the police about Bella’s death, according to Deakin.
...
Deakin also spoke about a “lifelong friend” of McCarthy’s who had lived with the couple earlier this year for one to two weeks. That friend, who was not named in court, told police he had moved out of the couple’s home because he didn’t like their treatment of Bella, according to Deakin. The friend said on two occasions McCarthy locked the girl in the closet for 30 minutes to an hour, Deakin said. The friend also told police that McCarthy had become involved in the occult and purported to see demons and ghosts, according to Deakin.

“Mr. McCarthy and Ms. Bond told the lifelong friend that (Bella) was possessed by demons and that that was the reason why she required that type of punishment,” Deakin said in court.
...
The friend’s sister then contacted the Boston Police Department with the information she heard. Meanwhile, the friend went to Roxbury District Court on Thursday morning and spoke with someone he knew there, Deakin said. He was later interviewed by State Police, who then obtained a warrant to search the couple’s home. There they found books on demons and demonology, according to Deakin.

http://www.wbur.org/2015/09/21/bella-bond-arraignment

[struggle4progress]

32. Current reporting also indicates the mom told her friend the Department of Children and Families

had the girl, so perhaps the mom's accounts aren't always accurate. And the mom and her boyfriend may also have spent some days drugged on heroin after the murder, too, which would suggest some nontrivial prior acquaintance with narcotics. One reading of the context could be that these are marginalized people, having some difficulty coping. Fatal child abuse by intoxicated household residents is nothing new; there are medieval examples in English records; the boyfriend's alleged comment after the child's death -- “she was a demon anyway, it was her time to die” -- might be a casual off-hand minimization, reflecting indifference rather than actual motive

Link: http://www.wbur.org/2015/09/21/bella-bond-arraignment

[Takket]

12. what religon are they?

[Warpy]

13. First True Church of the Crackpot, obviously

since he believes in demonic possession, or is reputed to.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. the crack somethin'

[smirkymonkey]

18. I don't think they are strongly religious - just dope fiends.

If I had to take a guess, I would say nominally Catholic (seeing as how this is Boston and at least the boyfriend has an Irish last name, not sure what Bond is, but there are a lot of Catholics in this area).

[trotsky]

25. And the RCC to this day teaches that demonic possession is real.

That can't help.

Casting Out Demons: Pope Francis Declares Support for Exorcisms

[Warren DeMontague]

15. some people very high on drugs do think invisible beings in the sky are telling them what to do

some people not on drugs suffer from that one, too, though

[Mnemosyne]

2. ...

[leftofcool]

4. This is so sad.

[Dont call me Shirley]

5. Bella...

Sleep with

[melman]

6. Meth

[Iggo]

7. ...and belief in demonic possession.

[struggle4progress]

8. I might not get in a big hurry to believe anybody's version here

BOSTON – The biological father of Bella Bond, Joseph Amoroso, said the child's mother admitted to him that their daughter was dead and her boyfriend was the man who killed her, according to the Boston Globe. Amoroso told the newspaper in an interview that Rachelle Bond, the child's mother, told him that Michael McCarthy, believed Bella was possessed by demons ...
Bella Bond's biological father said Michael McCarthy believed the child was possessed
By Scott J. Croteau
on September 20, 2015 at 12:10 PM
updated September 20, 2015 at 6:28 PM

BOSTON -- The father of a 2-year-old girl identified almost three months after her remains were found in a trash bag ... Joseph Amoroso said in interviews with WHDH-TV and the Boston Herald that Rachelle Bond told him her boyfriend, Michael McCarthy, fatally injured Bella Bond. Amoroso said he believes Rachelle Bond ... Amoroso told the Boston Herald that he and Bond connected in a tent at Occupy Boston and broke up after he discovered she had been arrested for prostitution ... The Associated Press could not locate a phone listing for Amoroso ...
"Baby Doe" dad speaks out on mother's arrest in girl's death
CBS/AP
September 19, 2015, 3:45 PM

... Bella’s mother, Rachelle Bond, is charged for covering up what happened to her daughter. Bond’s boyfriend, Michael McCarthy is charged with killing the little girl ... McCarthy has been arrested in the past on drug charges, domestic violence and motor vehicle violations. In Boston, in August of 2010, about two years before Bella was born, the then 36-year-old Rachelle Bond was arrested on Dorchester Avenue for prostitution. Court documents reveal she ended up in jail for violating bail ...
Bella Bond’s Mother Has Lengthy Criminal History
September 18, 2015 8:04 PM
Ryan Kath

[herding cats]

10. Whatever.

I've read it's being said she was punched in the stomach and died from those injuries. That's not a gentle death if it's true. It's a horrific, violent and painful way for anyone to die. Then her dead body is said to have been placed in a refrigerator before it was dumped on Deer Island. Because they were looking for the right place to dump a 'demon possessed' body, or because they realized they'd brutalized and murdered a small child and were trying to not get caught? My money is on the latter.

Excuse me for not buying what those who apparently killed this child are selling. Just because they're looking for a way to validate what they did after they got caught doesn't mean much of anything to me. They knew what they'd done was wrong, that's why they covered up the death they way they did.

[LuvNewcastle]

14. I agree.

They're murderers and they did their best to cover it up. The demon possession bullshit is just that.

[herding cats]

22. They may have been high enough to want to believe it after the fact.

But, their actions show that they knew they'd murdered a small child and were trying to keep from getting caught.

[smirkymonkey]

19. It's all over the Boston news today.

The more you hear about this case, the sicker it gets. The poor kid never had a chance and now all the adults that were nominally involved in Bella's life are coming forward trying to cover their tracks and make excuses as to why they weren't looking out for her or didn't report her missing. It's really disgusting, actually.

[herding cats]

23. There's a lot of blame to go around in this case.

The poor child was let down by every single person who should have protected her. Her father, DCF, her extended family and anyone who knew how sad her little life was and turned a blind eye. At least the two directly responsible for her death are now in custody.

[hifiguy]

31. And may they spend the rest of their miserable days

securely locked up.

[malaise]

21. And the report said they placed her body in that refrigerator for

a month before dumping the dead toddler.
The father has crawled out now
blaming the state and everyone else but he should have taken that child when he left given the fact that her other children were removed.

[herding cats]

26. Her father has blame of his own to bear.

He should have been fighting for custody rather than blaming the DCF after the fact. This is the same father who was defending the mother saying she would never have hurt Bella, the same father who didn't notify DCF when he went there twice to see the child and the mother gave the same lame excuse as to why she wasn't there, the same father who knew for a week his daughter had been murdered and her body dumped and still didn't go to the police.

He's far from blameless in the death of his daughter.

[JI7]

27. i saw pictures of him and fake sadness at a memorial set up for her

[Warren DeMontague]

16. Horrible story.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. The Pope believes in demonic influences and often says humans are influenced by demons and Francis

is said to be a progressive, liberal man of science by people who should know better. How do people get the idea that demons are real? They are told this is the case by those in authority, authority that is repeatedly legitimized by society.

[hobbit709]

24. The only demons that exist are created inside people's own heads.

[hifiguy]

30. /\THIS/\

[hifiguy]

29. This is just immensely sad

on every level. Stupidity and idiot religion are never a good combination.