But now they share a devastating grief - at the vicious sexual assault and murder of their child, allegedly by Cattie's boyfriend and purported drug supplier.
Yesterday, Cattie spoke exclusively with the Daily News - mainly about her life and her loss, but also lashed out at her daughter's alleged killer, calling him a monster.
"People need to realize, regardless of anything that has been said, he [Mark O'Donnell] is the monster," said Cattie, who otherwise said she could not discuss the pending case. "We've been together for four years and there was no way to tell that this was going to happen."
O'Donnell, 48, who lived in an apartment in Plymouth Meeting, had smoked a "significant" amount of crack at Cattie's house last Thursday night, according to authorities, before he allegedly strangled Ebony early Friday and allegedly sexually assaulted her while she was babysitting his 4-year-old daughter.
O'Donnell, who is married, told authorities he'd taken Ebony to his apartment to baby-sit his daughter Kyra while his wife was away, and came home in the predawn hours to find her changing the child's diaper and flew into a rage and attacked her. He said he thought she was molesting the child - an allegation that authorities say is unfounded.
He placed her body in a blue tub in his bedroom and later concealed it under leaves at a relative's house in Blue Bell, according to authorities. Police found Ebony's body Sunday.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, police said Cattie told them she had been "snorting cocaine for the past several years and more frequently over the past several months." Police said Cattie told them O'Donnell converted the powdered cocaine into crack and smoked it.
Authorities said Cattie did not report Ebony missing until Friday night, although the girl had been absent from school that day.
