BOSTON, May 25, 2016—A Roxbury woman was held without bail today at her arraignment for allegedly beating 3-year-old Kenai Whyte to death earlier this year, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

MARIA BUIE (D.O.B. 7/28/92) was arraigned today on one count of second-degree murder stemming from fatal injuries she allegedly inflicted on Whyte in her Alpine Street home on Jan. 31. Clerk Magistrate Lisa Medeiros ordered her held without bail at the request of Assistant District Attorney Craig Iannini and scheduled her trial for May 25, 2017.

Iannini, a member of the DA’s Homicide Unit, told the court that Whyte was a healthy 3-year-old boy until Boston Police and Boston Emergency Medical Services were called to the home on Jan. 31 and found him unresponsive. The child was intubated at the scene and rushed to Boston Medical Center, where he died two days later.

“An investigation was undertaken into the circumstances surrounding the physical health and well-being of Kenai Whyte in the days leading up to and including Jan. 31, 2016,” Iannini said. “Through this investigation, it has been established through interviews with witnesses who observed and interacted with the child that the victim was in good physical condition during the days leading up to the 911 call … The investigation specifically showed that the victim appeared to be in good health, was acting normally, and was free of any injuries up until arriving home at 23 Alpine Street with his stepmother, Maria Buie. The investigation has determined that Maria Buie was the sole person to have custody, care, and control of Kenai Whyte at the time he received his injuries.”

Iannini said pathologists observed a fractured vertebra in Whyte’s neck, retinal bleeding, bruising in the area of both his ears, bruising to the top and rear of his scalp, bruising and a contusion to his forehead, scratches on his torso, and a laceration to his penis. The Office of the Medical Examiner ruled the boy’s death a homicide caused by “blunt impact and acceleration and deceleration of the head and neck,” Iannini said.

Buie was arrested by Boston Police homicide detectives on March 29. She was charged with aggravated assault and battery on a child amid the ongoing investigation and held on $100,000 cash bail. When Whyte’s death was ruled a homicide, she was indicted for his murder.

Jennifer Sears is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Buie was represented today by attorney Sam Zaganjori. She will return to court on June 21.

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All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt