Boston Globe’s Double Standard Continues with Undocumented Irish Nanny’s Murder Case

Just look at the news coming from today’s Boston Globe, regarding the murder case of Aisling Brady McCarthy. The latest news about this case just broke on Boston.com (the Globe’s online platform) under the following headline: “Irish nanny Aisling Brady McCarthy charged with first degree murder in toddler death.”

What we find so curious is that Brady McCarthy is undocumented; she is not authorized to live in this country, having illegally entered this country several years ago. But you wouldn’t know that from the Globe’s latest news. See how long it takes until you get to that fact. This is the excerpt from the actual story:

Irish nanny Aisling Brady McCarthy has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a one-year-old girl she had been caring for in a Cambridge apartment, Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.’s office said today.

Previously, Brady McCarthy had only been charged with assault and battery following the death of Rehma Sabir in January, and her attorney has repeatedly said that Brady McCarthy has been wrongly accused of harming the child.

But today, prosecutors said a Middlesex County grand jury has returned indictments of first degree murder and assault and battery on a child causing bodily injury against the nanny.

An arraignment date has not yet been scheduled.

According to prosecutors, public safety personnel responded to Ash Street in Cambridge on Jan. 14 after the child was found unresponsive. The child was rushed to Boston’s Children’s Hospital where she was pronounced dead on Jan. 16.

Brady McCarthy pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault and battery on Jan. 22, and has been held on $500,000 cash bail. In hearings in Cambridge District Court, defense attorney Melinda Thompson has repeatedly said Brady McCarthy is innocent of murder, and also repeatedly demanded that prosecutors officially determine the child’s death cause of death.

Thompson could not be reached for comment this afternoon.

In a statement, prosecutors said they now have established the cause of Sabir’s death, which has not been publicly disclosed until today.

“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and ruled that the cause of death is blunt force head injuries, and the manner of death is homicide and not accidental,’’ prosecutors said in the statement.

According to prosecutors, investigators have concluded that Brady McCarthy was alone with the infant when the fatal injuries took place.

“It is alleged that on January 14, the child was in the care of the defendant, her nanny,’’ prosecutors said in the statement. “Through their investigation, including interviews with witnesses, police concluded that the defendant had sole custody of and contact with the child during the time that the child sustained the abusive head trauma injuries that caused her death.’’

Brady, a native of Ireland who has been in the country illegally, faces deportation to Ireland if she is freed from state custody, according to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Did you count? That would be 12 paragraphs into the story. The interesting part of all this is that The Globe doesn’t seem to have any problem bringing up a person’s immigration status in other stories, such as this one from September 28, 2011, titled “Illegal immigrant in murder case had prior arrest.” Let’s see how long it takes for the person’s status to get reported:

Scituate police arrested an illegal immigrant from Brazil for motor-vehicle violations three months before he allegedly stabbed his former girlfriend to death in a brutal attack this week, reigniting debate over whether Massachusetts should participate in the federal Secure Communities program.

Five words into the story. In the opening paragraph.

Here’s another one from September 8, 2011 from the Globe, titled “Emotions run high in Milford over death blamed on immigrant.”

Here’s the beginning of the story. Let’s count:

MILFORD – More than 200 people demonstrated against illegal immigration last night outside Milford’s town hall, where Ecuadoran officials offered condolences to the family of a local man allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk.

Matthew Denice, 23, was riding a motorcycle on Aug. 20 when Nicolas Guaman, 34, allegedly struck him with a pickup truck and dragged him hundreds of yards before stopping. Denice died of his injuries.

Guaman, an immigrant from Ecuador living illegally in the US, faces numerous charges, including vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol.

For those playing at home: Undocumented Irish nanny who is charged for killing a toddler? Bury the information about her immigration status. But for previous examples of two men who are from Latin America, committed crimes and are also here in this country illegally? Mention their status almost immediately and emphasize their criminality.

Words matter, and The Boston Globe completely failed on this one. Brady McCarthy is “illegal.” Why the double standard?