The boyfriend of a woman whose toddler daughter was found dead inside a trash bag on a Boston Harbor beach this summer and became known as Baby Doe has been charged with murder.
Prosecutors announced the charge against Michael McCarthy on Friday. McCarthy is being treated at a Boston hospital for drug issues, The Associated Press is reporting.
Baby Doe's mother, Rachelle Bond, is under arrest on a charge of accessory to murder after the fact. She's in custody and also can't be reached for comment.
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who represents the Boston neighborhood where the girl lived, said he had been told that the child's mother and her boyfriend had traded blame for her death during questioning by police.
"Mother and boyfriend started blaming each other in terms of who harmed the child," DeLeo told reporters. He said the girl was named Bella Bond.
A spokesman for Suffolk County prosecutors said the "investigation remains very active," but declined to give details.
Governor Charlie Baker told reporters he had been briefed on the matter and that state child welfare workers had had contact with the family before the girl's disappearance.
"Obviously at this point this is a criminal investigation," Baker said.
The remains were found stuffed in a trash bag on June 25 by a woman who was walking her dog. Police in July launched a billboard campaign featuring a computer-generated image of what the girl may have looked like in life, in hopes of generating leads on her identity.
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