More than a year has passed since 4-year-old Jayden Hayes was beaten to death in South Orange, and his father’s family is waiting anxiously for the case against his alleged killer, Jonathan Ortiz, 19, to come to trial.

On April 2, 2008, Ortiz—who was dating Jayden's mother—allegedly beat the child to death while babysitting him overnight at his parents' Vose Avenue residence. Ortiz was arrested on April 10 and charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child in February. (Forensic issues were cited as the reason for the 10-month gap between the arrest and the indictment.)

He pled not guilty in March and remains free on $150,000 bail.

Three calls to Ortiz’s lawyer, Paul Bergrin, seeking comment on the legal proceedings weren’t returned. Bergrin was indicted in federal court last week on charges of conspiring to murder and intimidate witnesses on behalf of clients. According to Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Ortiz’s future court dates are in limbo, since he’ll be instructed to seek other counsel.

Jayden’s aunt, Yesenia Hayes—sister of his father, Narada Hayes— says the family was initially told that the boy had died of an asthma attack, but her brother wasn’t permitted to see the body when he came to the hospital, and a nurse gave him the name of a detective to speak to. At the funeral, the bruises on Jayden’s body made it evident that he had been abused.

“One of my uncles came up to me and said, in Spanish, ‘He didn’t die of an asthma attack. Someone beat him—look at his face,’” recalled Hayes, 29, who lives in Orlando, where Jayden spent the first three years of his life.

“I had questions in my head, but I didn’t want to make a scene at the funeral,” she said.

The following day, the family was notified by a detective that the death had been ruled a homicide, and that Jonathan Ortiz—who attended the funeral—had admitted to hitting Jayden.

“At the funeral, he was crying with everyone and acting like he was so hurt,” said Hayes, who added that Ortiz had given condolences to her brother and shaken his hand.

Narada Hayes, 23, had seen Ortiz once before when he came to New Jersey from New York City to pick up Jayden for a visit. Jayden's mother sent the boy to meet Hayes with Ortiz, but the two men didn’t introduce themselves.

He’s in constant contact with the prosecutor assigned to the case, but has none at all with Jayden’s mother, who had been living in Belleville with their son prior to his death.

As the case makes its way through the system, Hayes is reaching out to legal organizations to find out what kind of support is available.

“Basically, I’ve been reaching out to different organizations and trying to get whatever help that I can get—making sure that this guy receives the maximum punishment allowed by the courts,” he said.

Since the death of his only child, Hayes receives daily phone calls from his sister and mother in Florida, who worry about him. According to Yesenia Hayes, they struggle with the sense that there's apathy toward the case, since a year has passed and the alleged killer hasn’t stood trial.

“You would never think something like this would happen in your family,” she said.