Before the 911 call came in earlier this month, 18-month-old Priscilla Walker had endured agonizing and life-threatening injuries for two days that caused her to vomit profusely, wounds prosecutors say were inflicted by her mother's former boyfriend.
Walker died March 14, and an autopsy revealed she had suffered an apparent severe blow to the head and intestinal tearing consistent with being crushed.
"The defendant initially stated he had no idea how she got the marks on her head and abdomen," Assistant Bristol District Attorney Katie Rayburn said yesterday afternoon during the arraignment of the former boyfriend, Manuel Moniz, on murder charges.
But Moniz's story changed, according to court records. He later told authorities that he threw a large, heavy toy with significant force toward a wall in the Dartmouth Street apartment he shared with Alexandra McCarthy-Rodriguez, 22, the toddler's mother, in reaction to a voice mail message she had received from another man. The toy struck the toddler in the head, he said.
According to court records, Moniz, 23, also told authorities that on March 14, two days later, he stepped on Priscilla's abdomen. Moniz weighs 250 pounds, according to a police report.
According to the police report, Moniz said he did not tell the mother that he knew the girl was suffering serious injuries because he did not want her to leave him. He also said he feared that if she sought medical help for her daughter, it would trigger an investigation by the state Department of Children and Families, police said.
From the day Priscilla died until Moniz was arrested Thursday, McCarthy-Rodriguez said, she mourned along with the man now charged in her daughter's death.
"He beat on her and covered it up; he's just a bad person for doing it," she said, standing outside New Bedford District Court several hours before the arraignment.
She said she was doing laundry and washing dishes March 14 and had to leave the apartment briefly. When she returned, she said, Moniz told her the girl was not breathing and was unconscious.
The Bristol district attorney's office, State Police, and New Bedford police investigated the case over 10 days.
McCarthy-Rodriguez and Gregory Walker Jr., Priscilla's father, had dated in 2007, prior to her relationship with Moniz. Walker said Moniz told him he had performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Priscilla and called 911.
Priscilla was not breathing and did not have a pulse when authorities arrived, paramedics told police. She was rushed to St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford, where she was pronounced dead.
Moniz went to Priscilla's funeral wearing a T-shirt with her picture emblazoned on the front, Walker said.
"I shook that man's hand at the funeral, thinking that he had tried to save her, and he was the one that killed her," said Walker, who was ushered out of the arraignment after he yelled at the defendant, telling Moniz that he should hope to stay locked up.
Walker, 25, said he had occasionally played pick-up football games with Moniz at a local field, adding: "I never liked him. I wish I would have followed my gut feeling."
Marta Moniz, the defendant's mother, attended the arraignment and began crying when she made eye contact with her son. After the arraignment, she said: "My heart goes out to the mother. We're so sorry for them."
Moniz's lawyer, Elliot Levine, entered a plea of not guilty on his client's behalf, and Moniz was ordered held without bail pending a probable cause hearing April 14. Levine said during the arraignment that Moniz does not have an adult criminal record and that, "realizing the condition she [Priscilla] was in, he started CPR and he called the police."
According to Gregg Milliote, spokesman for the Bristol district attorney, Moniz had faced a charge of assault and battery against McCarthy-Rodriguez stemming from an incident in August. McCarthy-Rodriguez declined to pursue the charges, and the case was dropped in December.
In the hours following Priscilla's death, the state Department of Children and Families took custody of McCarthy-Rodriguez's two other children, ages 4 and 3. They are now in the care of the mother's family, a spokeswoman said. The agency declined to comment on whether they had prior contact with the mother.
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