Over the weekend, my daughter asked me why the case of the murdered little girl, Bella Bond, was consuming the public. “Other children have died,” she said, “other atrocious things have happened.” Her tone was more curious than accusatory.

Here’s what I told her. Any life taken in a brutal way is news. But when it is a defenseless child and her murder could and should have been prevented, the sadness of it goes to our core. We are left wondering what kind of people could do this and what kind of society could let it happen.

Monday, during the arraignment of Rachelle Bond and Michael McCarthy, our questions were answered. Sort of. We looked into the eyes of the alleged murderer, the boyfriend of Bella’s mother, and saw nothing. We saw a man so ravaged by drugs that there was no longer a glimmer of humanity in those eyes -- just a vacuous stare.

We learned that Michael McCarthy was into cults, ghosts, and devils. He allegedly took it upon himself to beat to death a toddler because, in his words, “She was a demon and it was her time to die.”

We may never know if drugs led him to the dark side, or if he had always found meaning in evil.

The prosecution says McCarthy not only murdered Bella but put her in a bag that he placed into the refrigerator. He allegedly threatened to kill Bella’s mother if she told and injected her with heroin so that she, too, would be inhuman. These are details too horrible to comprehend.

What we learned about Rachelle just made us ask more questions. She’d been homeless for years and was also a drug user. She lived under threat from McCarthy. Still, she was his accomplice. Was there not enough of the mother left in her to jeopardize her own safety in order to save Bella?

Here’s what we did not hear Monday.

We did not hear from those who lived near Bella. Those who failed to wonder what happened to the toddler. Those who failed to ask, “Where is the little girl?”

We did not hear from The Massachusetts’ Department of Children and Families. DCF didn’t explain the two visits social workers made to Bella. DCF didn’t explain why no one thought she was in danger.

We did hear from Bella’s biological father who, when asked outside the courtroom why he never got involved, said he thought Bella had been taken by DCF.

This story will consume me until there are more answers. It should stay on the front page and live in newscasts as long as it must to affect change.