A horrific incident involving the alleged torture and severe beating of a three-year child on Crete was upgraded to intentional homicide on Monday, as attending physicians announced that the toddler is brain dead.

Two suspects, the unfortunate boy’s 26-year-old mother and her 44-year-old companion, have been arrested in the case and transferred to the greater Athens area’s Korydallos prison, where they remain jailed in an isolated wing of the penitentiary for their own safety.

The case has gripped and shocked public opinion in Greece since last month, when authorities in the Cretan city of Irakleio announced the arrests and the child’s hospitalization for what was described as indescribable abuse.

The heart-breaking development was accompanied by a gut-wrenching decision taken by the child’s grandparents, who were granted custody by a local court after the arrest of the mother, to allow an organ donation.

The director of the PAGNI hospital in Irakleio said procedures have begun to ascertain whether the child’s heart and kidneys can be harvested, news that magnified the sorrow and sadness revolving around the case, but also anger, especially in the Irakleio area.