Jurors begin their second full day of deliberations on Thursday to decide if Michael McCarthy is guilty of killing his girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter in 2015.

According to CBS News, McCarthy was charged with first-degree murder in Bella Bond’s death, which authorities believe took place in May or June of 2015.

Bella’s mother Rachelle Bond had previously pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact in the death of her daughter, admitting to helping McCarthy dispose of the child’s body.

The horrific murder case gained national attention when a dog walker found the little girl’s decomposing body on an island in Boston Harbor in June 2015 and authorities shared a digitally-created image of the girl in an attempt to identify her.

An acquaintance of Rachelle’s contacted police after noticing that Bella had been missing. Bond reportedly told some friends that child services had taken custody of the little girl, but not everyone was convinced.

As part of her plea bargain, Bond will avoid further jail time and was required to testify against McCarthy.

In her testimony earlier this month, Bond admitted to a long history of drug abuse and said she was not exactly sure what day Bella died. She said that McCarthy beat the child one night when she refused to go to sleep, and then threatened to kill the mother when she tried to administer CPR to the gravely injured girl.

Bond also said that McCarthy injected her with heroin, and said it was the toddler’s “time to go” because she was a “demon.”

McCarthy’s defense team has argued that Bond killed her daughter alone.

“Rachelle Bond made up the story she told you,” his attorney reportedly said. “The story she told was clearly made up to cover her own guilt.

“In the end, the monster came for that little girl …And it was her mother.”

Legal analyst Jennifer Roman told CBS Boston that jurors are likely struggling with the testimony presented at trial.

“I think the jury is really in a bit of a quandary here because the case really is so horrific and it shocks our sense of morality on such a deep level that the jury has to ask itself would a mother knowingly and intentionally allow a man to kill her child and cover it up… Or the converse which is equally as appalling which is would a mother kill her own child?”

Feature photo: Handout