BOSTON (WHDH) - Rachelle Bond wiped away tears in court Thursday as prosecutors showed pictures of her two-year-old daughter Bella Bond. The toddler’s biological father then took the stand and detailed the moment he learned of her death.
Bond is testifying against her former boyfriend and accused killer Michael McCarthy as part of a plea deal, which will free her from jail upon conclusion of her daughter’s murder trial.
McCarthy is charged with murdering the toddler by fatally punching her in the stomach and dumping her body in Boston Harbor in 2015. Baby Bella’s body was found in a black trash bag on a Deer Island beach by a woman walking her dog.
But the defense says Bond, not McCarthy killed Bella.
While the prosecution tried to portray her as a loving mother, the defense tried to convince jurors otherwise. McCarthy’s attorney tried to get her to admit that she used her welfare benefits to buy heroin and that she talked to a friend about purchasing a hand gun.
“I believe that every family should have one for their own protection,” Bond told the court when asked about the gun.
Baby Bella’s biological father, Joseph Amoroso, 34, of Lynn, also took the stand.
“I knew something was going on. Something wasn’t right. I just didn’t know what it was,” Amoroso said.
Amoroso says he and Bond were both homeless and used crack cocaine together. He says he left the state with another woman when Bond was pregnant, but came back looking for his daughter unaware she had been killed.
Amoroso also claims Bond told him about the toddler’s death on the day before she talked to the police.
“She told me Bella was dead. I flipped out,” Amoroso said. “She punched me in the head and told me to shut the [expletive] up before I get her bagged.”
Amoroso will return to the stand Friday, along with the state medical examiner.
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