CAVAN NATIVE AISLING Brady McCarthy is to face charges of first degree murder and assault and battery on a child who was in her care in the US.
A court in the Boston suburb of Woburn today ordered the 34-year-old be held without bail ahead of her trial.
The Irish woman, who has been living in the US illegally for a number of years, is accused of violently injuring one-year-old Rehma Sabir and causing her death. The toddler was allegedly in her care at the time she received fatal injuries.
The Middlesex Superior Court Judge Thomas Billings said he upheld the magistrate’s decision to not allow bail because of the severity of the charges and the fact that she is a foreign national with family outside the country.
Brady McCarthy denies all charges and entered pleas of ‘not guilty’ in relation to both counts this morning. Her lawyers continue to maintain her innocence, claiming police have accused the wrong person in the homicide case.
The charges relate to the discovery of an unresponsive child on the afternoon of 14 January. Police found Rehma Sabir breathing, but unconscious, after being called out to a property on Ash Street in central Boston.
The girl was transported to the Children’s Hospital where she was found to be suffering from subdural and retinal haemorrhaging, and cerebral swelling. She was pronounced brain dead on 16 January and subsequently died.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and ruled that the cause of death was blunt force head injuries, and the manner of death was “homicide and not accidental”.
It is alleged that McCarthy Brady was the only person who had contact with the baby during the period when she sustained the injuries.
Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone has said the case is “extremely troubling”.
“Children are our most vulnerable victims and where, as here, the offender has been entrusted with the case of a child who depends on them, the allegations are all the more egregious.”
The defendant is due back in court on 9 May for a pre-trial hearing. A statement from the Middlesex district attorney noted these charges are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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