Leslie Schuler, 36, is accused of repeatedly beating Nathaniel Turner, culminating in a brutal assault on June 21, when he's alleged to have slammed the boy's head into a wall so hard it left a dent.

The boy was declared brain dead two days later.

Schuler, of Worcester, originally was charged with multiple counts of assault, but a murder charge was added when the boy died on Saturday after being removed from a hospital ventilator.

A not guilty plea was entered on Schuler's behalf during his arraignment in Central District Court.

The boy's mother, Alicia Turner, sobbed as she watched the arraignment from the front row of the courtroom with relatives including Christine Taylor, the boy's maternal grandmother. The boy had lived with his grandmother most of his life in Eufaula, Ala., but had moved to Worcester, the second-largest city in New England, around Memorial Day to stay with his father for the summer.