UPDATE: Michael McCarthy Held Without Bail for Bella Bond Murder

Above: Michael Patrick McCarthy appears in Suffolk Superior Court Monday morning. He was held without bail on a charge of first degree murder. Photo courtesy of WHDH, 7 News.

Michael Patrick McCarthy was held without bail during his arraignment Monday morning for the murder of Bella Bond, the two-year-old girl found on a Deer Island beach in June.

McCarthy was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on a charge of first-degree murder for the death of Bella Bond in the Dorchester home that Bella shared with her mother, Rachelle Dee Bond, McCarthy’s co-defendant.

Rachelle Bond was held on $1 million bail during her arraignment last week on charges of accessory after the fact. Rachelle Bond is also expected to be arraigned Monday morning on larceny charges for allegedly continuing to receive public assistance even after the girl’s death.

McCarthy punched Bella to death because she had been acting “unruly,” Rachelle Bond reportedly told investigators. McCarthy’s lawyer told the court Monday that McCarthy had nothing to do with Bella’s death, WHDH, 7 News reports. He said Rachelle Bond told McCarthy that state child protective services took the toddler away.

“She was a demon anyway. It was her time to die,” McCarthy reportedly told Bond after she found Bella dead in her room.

During Rachelle Bond’s arraignment Wednesday, prosecutors said Bond claimed McCarthy threatened to kill her if she said anything about Bella’s murder. The pair allegedly disposed of the body and continued their relationship.

The couple allegedly placed the girl in a plastic bag and dumped her body in the water. The toddler — then known as “Baby Doe” — washed up on the beach in June. Her identity remained a mystery for months, with police even putting up billboards around the state asking anyone who may have known her for information.

In September, police got a break, with information leading them to McCarthy and Rachelle Bond. The investigation led police to the Bond’s Dorchester home. The couple was taken into custody. Bond admitted to a friend of McCarthy’s that he had murdered her daughter, police have said. She also confessed to the same individual that she was an “accessory after the fact,” according to authorities.

Michael McCarthy is due back on court Feb. 16.