BREAKING:Grand Jury Indicts Parents In Toddler Drowning Death In Bayville

by Patricia A. Miller

Neighbors who lived near Robert S. Trella and Brigitte M. McCarthy in Bayville said it was not uncommon to see their two-year-old daughter roaming the streets of their Sylvan Lakes neighborhood alone.

Sadly, last Aug. 17, the toddler managed to enter the backyard of a neighbor's home and drowned in the shallow end of a pool.

An Ocean County Grand Jury recently indicted her parents, Trella, 41 and McCarthy, 31, Bittern Lane, on eleven counts dealing with the little girl's death, a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Brigitte M. McCarthy was indicted on two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and three counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, said Al Della Fave.

Trella was indicted on two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, three counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance and one count of tampering with evidence, he said.

The toddler, Maddigan Grace McCarthy, was floating in the bottom of a neighbor's pool on Aug. 17 2015. Police had earlier responded to a report of a nine-year-old girl running down the street telling people her littie sister was missing.

"Witnesses in the area advised police that M.M. had been seen wandering around the neighborhood unsupervised on prior occasions before her death," Della Fave said. "It was further revealed that M.M.'s 9- year-old sister assumed many of the care-taking responsibilities for M.M."

Trella was arrested on Jan. 20. McCarthy was arrested on Jan. 21. Both were taken to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River in lieu of $150,000 cash bail.

Police officers who entered the home that night discovered marijuana, heroin, oxycodone and suboxone inside the residence.

"McCarthy further instructed her 9-year-old daughter to retrieve a tin containing suspected heroin in the presence of the investigating law enforcement officers," Della Fave said. "Trella further attempted to destroy marijuana located within the home."

The little girl was found floating in the shallow end of the pool that night. She was pronounced dead at at Community Medical Center at 9:24 p.m., Della Fave has said

“Obviously it wasn’t adequate fencing,” he said. ”The child had free access to the pool.”

The lead investigators in the case are Detective William Somers, Sergeant William Cullen and Patrolman Taylor Butler of the Berkeley Township police department, Sergeant Brian Haggerty of Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit. The Crime Scene Investigation Unit of the Ocean County Sheriff's Office also assisted in the investigation. Senior Assistant Prosecutor Christine Lento is prosecuting the case.

Photo credits: Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.