A Bridgeport man now faces murder charges in the beating death of a 6 year-old boy with a baseball bat. On Thursday, prosecutors upgraded Adbulrahim Sulaiman's charges after Jathan Escobar died of his injuries.

Outside the courthouse, the child's family said they still have many questions about what happened – and why.

A crowd of judicial marshals led Sulaiman into court with a mesh spit mask covering his head. In earlier court appearances, marshals say he attacked them and spit on them.

Bridgeport police say Sulaiman attacked his wife and her two young children with a bat on Sept. 25. They received multiple 911 calls, including one from Sulaiman's wife.

"Please help! He's hitting us with a bat! My kids! My kids! My son! Please help us! Please! Please!" she begged, according to the police report, which noted screaming and banging in the background of the call.

The woman and her 4 year-old son survived and are now out of the hospital. But one week after the attack, Escobar died of his injuries.

"It doesn't seem real," said his cousin, Kaylynn Tejera. "It's just like a horrible dream we're waiting to wake up from."

Escobar's family gathered in court wearing shirts with his picture on them. They still have many questions, especially for the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. DCF says they "interacted" with the family this summer but were not involved when the attack happened.

"We can confirm the Agency is conducting a joint investigation with the Bridgeport Police Department after being notified of the fatality," DCF commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly said in a statement. "At the time of the incident, the Department was not involved with the mother and children but had interacted with them approximately two months prior to the report being received."

Sulaiman has a long and violent criminal history. In court filings, an ex-girlfriend claimed that he threatened to cut her head off. Escobar's family said that Sulaiman abused the boy's mother too.

"He would basically beat her," Tejera said. "He would beat the mother of his kids. And she would tell my aunt."

Given Sulaiman's troubled past, Escobar's aunt wants to know why no one was monitoring him.

"This is the world we live in, right? You know, people do bad things to others and they, for whatever reason, they go to jail and they come back out," said Lisa Escobar. "I don't have hate towards him, but it's disgusting what he did. And I do hope and pray that he pays for what he did to my nephew."

Sulaiman faces a murder with special circumstances charge, which carries a life sentence with no parole. He will be back in court on Oct. 23 to decide if he wants a probable cause hearing on the new charge.

Sulaiman is currently in jail under an $11.5 million bond.