A 20-year-old man is charged with killing his girlfriend's toddler, and his mother was charged with helping him escape.

Keith Jordan Lambing, of Butler, Pennsylvania, the boyfriend of Mackenzie Peters, was charged with homicide and rape in the death of four-year-old Bentley Miller.

Lambing's mother, Kristen Herold, 43, was charged with child endangerment and hindering apprehension when police say she hid her son in the attic of an abandoned home in Butler to avoid police detection.

Keith Jordan Lambing (left) and his mother, Kristen Herold, were charged in connection with the murder of four-year-old Bentley Miller

Bentley Miller, above, died of blood loss from forced sodomy, said police, and he also had a severely burned hand and bruises all over his body

Both are being held in Butler County Prison.

The boy died of severe blood loss due to sodomy, a severe burn to his left hand, and bruises to the head, trunk and extremities, reported the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette. He also reportedly had previous injuries.

On March 21, police were called around 9:30am to a report of an unconscious child in a car at a business on Renaissance Drive in Butler. They found Bentley in the car with Herold.

Lambing appeared in court on Monday, he appeared to be crying

Asked by a reporter in the hallway of his hearing if he killed the boy, he replied 'No sir'

The boy's mother, Mackenzie Peters (pictured), was at work when police were called about the boy's condition

Herold told police she had picked the boy up at a Super 8 motel, where her son, Lambing, was staying with his girlfriend, Peters, and their four-month-old son. Miller was not Lambing's biological child.

Police say Herold had been in the process of taking the child to his biological father's house, despite the fact that he was bleeding. When he became unconscious, she pulled over and called police.

Police said Lambing was alone with the boy when he was assaulted.

The baby belonging to Peters (pictured) and Lambing has been placed in protective custody

Son and mother: Lambing and his mother, Herold, were both charged in connection with the boy's murder - Lambing is charged with aggravated indecent assault of a child and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and Herold is charged with aiding her son in hiding from police as well as child endangerment

The boy was rushed to Butler Memorial Hospital, but never regained consciousness. He was pronounced dead an hour later.

The boy's mother, Peters, was at work when police were called over the boy's condition, yet police said she may be charged in the future as well, though what charges are unclear, reported WTAE.

When police went looking for Lambing, they eventually found him the next day, hiding in an attic of an abandoned building, where his mother stashed him, say cops.

Lambing was already facing charges of burglary, criminal trespass, and conspiracy as well as terroristic threats and harassment, and had failed to show up for a court appointment the day before the boy's murder.

Herold had been arrested for retail theft in 2013 and had a bench warrant out for required payments as restitution.

The boy was allegedly sexually assaulted and beaten in this Super 8 in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to police, and later died at a hospital

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said he may seek the death penalty for Lambing.

'I have never seen anything like it in 22 years as an attorney,' he told WTAE. 'It's horrific. It's unimaginable that somebody could actually do this to any human being let alone a 4-year-old.'

Lambing appeared in court on Monday. When a reporter asked if he'd killed Bentley, he cried and said 'No, sir,' according to video shown on WTAE.

The prosecutor said Bentley had broken his arm two years ago, but officials found no evidence of abuse.

The baby belonging to Peters and Lambing has been placed in protective custody.