The man charged with killing a four-year-old Richlands, Virginia boy is scheduled to be in a Utah court Wednesday.

33-year-old Nathan Sloop is charged with brutally beating and killing Ethan Stacy.
Sloop was Stacy's stepfather.

Ethan's mother, 29-year-old Stephanie Sloop is also charged in his murder.

According to authorities, Ethan lived in Richlands, but a judge had approved a visit with his mother in Utah between April 29th and May 8th of 2010.

Autopsy results showed that he was severely abused; the Sloops say they found him dead after they locked him in his room, so that they could go get married.

Ethan's body was found in a remote location in Utah. Police say his face was disfigured from the abuse.

Wednesday, a Farmville, Utah judge will decide if Sloop should face the death penalty.