A defense lawyer argued Monday that his client's murder case is handicapped because the alleged victim's body was cremated.

Prosecutors accuse Keith Jordan Lambing of assaulting Bentley Thomas Miller, ultimately leading to the 4-year-old's death in March 2017.

Lambing's public defender, Charles Nedz, argued that the toddler's autopsy results shouldn't be admitted into evidence during a motion to suppress hearing before Judge Timothy McCune.

An autopsy found Bentley Thomas Miller died from internal bleeding inflicted during a sexual assault. Several days after the autopsy was complete, the state released Miller's body to the family, who cremated the boy's remains.

“Those (human) remains weren't available to the defense, putting the defense at a significant disadvantage,” Nedz, said during a hearing Monday.

Lambing, who was 20 years old at the time of his 2017 arrest, faces multiple charges, including first-degree homicide, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with serious bodily injury, and rape of a child.

Lambing sat quietly in an orange jumpsuit next to Nedz. Several of Miller's family attended the hearing.

“It's more difficult to contest the evidence,” Nedz said. “The evidence is so important (that) it should have been preserved.”

Nedz used Monday's hearing to repeat several arguments, including his assertion that all medical evidence related to the cause of death be removed from the case.

The hearing was a continuation of one from last month during which recordings of Lambing's initial interviews with police were viewed.

McCune will make a decision on Nedz's requests and arguments before the case continues. But assistant district attorney Terri Schultz counters that Nedz has all available information. “All the evidence we received was provided to the defense counsel,” Schultz said. “They have had everything the commonwealth has. The only thing they don't have is the body.”

District Attorney Richard Goldinger wants to seek the death penalty, but Lambing's defense team reiterated its argument that the death penalty is unconstitutional and falls under cruel and unusual punishment.

Schultz said such a decision is one for a higher court to make, adding that the “commonwealth does not enter lightly into the death penalty.”