Jury selection will begin in early January for the trial of a 22-year-old Butler man accused of raping a child and causing his death after a judge ruled the case will remain in Butler County.

Residents will be summoned for Keith Jordan Lambing's trial after presiding Judge Timothy McCune decided the county will not change the case's venue. Jurors will be selected from the county to decide the case against Lambing in the death of 4-year-old Bentley Thomas Miller.

Lambing faces multiple charges, including first-degree homicide, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with serious bodily injury, and rape of a child.

The defense team for Lambing previously argued the incident causing Bentley's death at a motel in 2017 was so well known that any jury group drawn from Butler County would be prejudiced against Lambing, who is being held without bail in Butler County Prison.

Still unresolved is the use of the death penalty in the case.

Soon after the boy's death, District Attorney Richard Goldinger said his office would seek the execution of Lambing if the defendant is found guilty.

But Gov. Tom Wolf issued a stay of any executions in 2015, and the matter will be resolved Sept. 11, when a decision by the state's Supreme Court is expected.

Lambing's trial will revolve around the prosecution's argument that Bentley was killed March 21, 2017, in a Super 8 Motel on Pittsburgh Road in Butler Township.

Authorities further allege the only other person present in the room at that time was Lambing.

Prosecutors also contend Bentley's mother, Mackenzie Paige Peters, was not present at the time of the alleged crime.

Peters and Lambing's mother, 44-year-old Kristen L. Herold of Butler, were both sentenced on child endangerment charges in Butler County Court in May 2018 for their role in Bentley's death.

Peters was sentenced to 36 months of probation, while Herold was sentenced to 1½ to 5 years in state prison.

Peters was charged in relation to injuries the boy suffered before the assault that resulted in his death. Police said Bentley suffered a previous injury — a severe burn to his hand — which also occurred while he was in Lambing's care, several days before his death.

Herold was charged with hiding Lambing while police searched for him and endangering Bentley when she did not immediately seek medical treatment for the boy.

Keith Lambing of Wexford, suspect in boy's death.