(We will carry the sentencing live on the LawNewz Network when it begins, to watch a raw feed see the embedded video below)
Wednesday morning, Michael McCarthy was sentenced after his second-degree murder conviction for the death of Boston toddler Bella Bond. McCarthy, who faced a mandatory life sentence for Bond’s murder, awaited a decision as to when he would be eligible for parole. At the hearing, the judge announced that McCarthy will get that opportunity after serving 20 years.
Joseph Amoroso, Bella’s father, spoke at the hearing, in order to persuade the judge not to be too lenient on McCarthy. The prosecution had asked for 25 years before eligibility for parole.
McCarthy, the boyfriend of Bella’s mother Rachelle Bond, was found guilty of killing the child, after prosecutors argued that he murdered her and then threw the girl’s body into what is known as the Reserve Channel, a docking area leading out of Boston Harbor.
A passer-by found the little girl’s body on a shoreline on the opposite side of the harbor on June 25, 2015, several weeks after the murder was alleged to have occurred.
Bella’s mother Rachelle Bond was scheduled to be sentenced to probation on Tuesday for her role in the child’s death. Bond had pleaded guilty to being an accessory, as part of a deal that involved her testifying against McCarthy at his trial. After a drug treatment center wouldn’t accept her, however, Bond’s sentencing has been pushed to July 12 with the hopes that another center will take her.
For now, Bond said that she’d rather stay in jail and stay sober than be let out without a treatment plan.
Aaron Keller contributed to this report.
