BOSTON, Dec. 18, 2015—The Suffolk County Grand Jury today returned indictments charging 2-year-old Bella Bond’s mother with being an accessory after the fact to her murder, and the mother’s boyfriend with the murder itself, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

The indictments charge MICHAEL PATRICK McCARTHY (D.O.B. 5/29/80) of Quincy with first-degree murder in the child’s homicide at 115 Maxwell Street in Dorchester. The indictments also charge RACHELLE DEE BOND (D.O.B. 7/25/75) of Dorchester with being an accessory after the fact to that murder and with larceny over $250 by false purposes for allegedly continuing to accept public assistance from the Department of Transitional Assistance after she knew of Bella’s death on an uncertain date in late May or early June of this year.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole upon conviction. Accessory after the fact to murder carries a maximum of seven years in state prison.  Larceny over $250 carries a maximum of up to five years. Neither of the latter offenses carries a minimum penalty.

The indictments move the case against McCarthy and Bond from Dorchester Municipal Court to Suffolk Superior Court, where it will be adjudicated. The two are tentatively expected to face arraignment there on Jan. 6; their previously-scheduled court date is expected to be cancelled.

Assistant District Attorneys David Deakin and Gloriann Moroney of the DA’s Family Protection and Sexual Assault Unit are prosecuting the case. Kara Hayes is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. McCarthy is represented by attorney Jonathan Shapiro and Bond by Janice Bassil.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.