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REST IN PEACE MAR'RIEL LUCASMar’riel Lucas Aug. 2, 2001-Aug. 29, 2007ELIZABETHTOWN — Repeated, punishing blows from a hand, fist and possibly a belt killed 6-year-old Mar’riel Lucas. Autopsy findings of Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Sam Weakley said the first-grader died from multiple blunt force trauma injuries to multiple parts of his body.“This kid took a heck of a pounding,” Weakley said. “I haven’t seen anything this bad in a long time.”The boyfriend of the child’s mother was charged with murder Wednesday afternoon. Antwan Hayes, 22, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Hardin District Court.Police say Hayes confessed to beating Mar’riel Lucas sometime before midnight Tuesday while the boy’s mother, Danial Lucas, was at work.The criminal complaint against Hayes claims he neglected to help the boy after striking him. Elizabethtown police say its investigation into Lucas’ death is ongoing and additional charges are possible.“It’s a tragedy,’’ Elizabethtown Police Department spokesman Virgil Willoughby said.On Thursday, additional counselors were brought to Helmwood Heights Elementary School where Mar’riel attended school, Principal Michelle Hart said.“It is very difficult, but we’re trying as hard as we can to have a normal day,” Hart said. “Each class is having discussions (about Mar’riel’s death) and we are working on a memorial service.”A memorial was on display at the front door of his mother’s home on Vista Drive. Reba Smith, who lives across the street from Lucas, said one of the 6-year-old’s neighborhood playmate dropped off a youth-sized football the pair once played with. It sat next to a candle on the porch of the Lucas home.Lucas also played often with Smith’s niece.“He was polite, well-behaved and was always trying to take care of the other kids in the neighborhood,” Smith said of Mar’riel.Smith described Lucas’ mother as “a good mom.” Mar’riel, who celebrated his 6th birthday less than three weeks before his death, was an only child, Smith said.Lucas’ father, veteran Army soldier Leslie Lawrence, was numbed by the death of his child.“We tried to make our time together count,” Lawrence said.The “Transformers” movie and a trip to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom were two recent instances of happy times spent as father and son.Lawrence described his son as talkative, lovable and an all-around good kid.Lucas’ paternal grandmother, Carolyn Carpenter, said she and her grandson planned to fly Friday to California to visit a relative, who is stationed there with the military.“He was excited about the flight,” she said. “He just loved the clouds and the sky.”The trip was supposed to be a bonus present for Lucas’ birthday, which Carpenter said she missed while on a different trip to Wisconsin.Neither the father nor grandmother could understand how anyone could hurt the little boy.“He was so polite,” Carpenter said. “He’d tell you if he’d done something wrong.”Carpenter warned single parents to be aware of the people they choose to be around their children.“If there are any signs of anything, you’d better find out what’s going on behind the scenes,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who you’re living with, you check them out.”Hayes is charged with murder and is lodged in lieu of $500,000 full cash bond in the Hardin County Detention Center. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 24. He has requested a public defender as counsel.Smith, the Vista Drive neighbor, said the boy’s mother came home to find her child unresponsive shortly after midnight. An ambulance was called and the child was taken to Hardin Memorial Hospital around 4 a.m. He was airlifted to Kosair Children’s Hospital for treatment.Elizabethtown police were called to Hardin Memorial Hospital Hospital around 4:20 a.m., but the child already had been transferred to Louisville.Lucas was pronounced dead at Kosair Children’s Hospital by 10 a.m.Percell Funeral Home in Elizabethtown is in charge of funeral arrangements, which have not been finalized.