SANDSTONE — Prosecutors in Pine County added a second-degree murder charge against a 31-year-old man after the 3-year-old boy he is accused of beating was taken off life support.

Dante Sears was taken off life support Saturday. His parents said they’ve donated Datne’s organs so he can “be a hero in another child’s life.”

Jonathan Loun, the boyfriend of Dante’s mother, was charged earlier with assault and malicious punishment of a child. After the murder charge was added, County Attorney Reese Frederickson said he would seek the maximum sentence of 40 years in prison if Loun is convicted.

Authorities said Dante’s mother, Jessica Carr, went to work Monday and left the boy and a sibling in the care of her boyfriend. When she returned home she found her son’s badly beaten body.