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Man Accused Of Raping, Killing 4-Year-Old Appears In Court

BUTLER (KDKA) -- It was March 21 when Butler was shaken by the murder of 4-year-old Bentley Miller.

Keith Lambing, 20, charged in Miller's death, was in court Thursday for his preliminary hearing.

That morning in March, Lambing was watching Bentley, who is his girlfriend's son.

The couple had been staying at the Super 8 Motel. Investigators say Lambing was alone with the boy, who had been burned, bruised and sodomized.

A pathologist testified some of the injuries were 72 hours old, but the cause of death, the rape, happened that morning.

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That's the charge Lambing's attorney, Frank Walker, wanted dismissed.

Brenda Waters: Why didn't you think they were able to prove rape of a child?
Frank Walker: They didn't establish that. I didn't hear anything that established definitively whether or not he is the person that raped the child. The fact that he was a person in the room, no other investigation as to who else was in the room at that time. That's a problem.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger was also in the courtroom.

Brenda Waters: Are you still considering the death penalty?
Richard Goldinger: I think at this point, yes, we are prepared to say that we will be filing soon before the time frame expires."

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