HONOLULU -- A premature baby delivered after his mother was left brain dead from a beating will be raised by relatives in Denver when he is released from the hospital, perhaps next week, a family member said Thursday.

Sarah M. Fay of the Big Island was pronounced dead Dec. 12 as Josiah Darcy Fay was delivered by Caesarean section at The Queen's Medical Center.

Fay's brother, Michael Fay, arrived in Hawaii on Thursday, saying he and his wife, Carie, will raise Josiah, who remains hospitalized at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children.

The baby will be ready to leave the hospital once he is able to digest four bottles of formula per day, Fay said.

"Josiah is well on his way to doing everything he needs to do in order to be released from the hospital," he said. "We're encouraged by his progress and eager to bring him home to our family."

Michael Fay's mother is Josiah's legal guardian, but Fay said he and his wife are in the process of legally adopting him.

Sarah Fay, 34, had been kept alive, along with her 7-month-old fetus, following the Nov. 25 beating. She was found unconscious in a house in the rural Fern Acres subdivision on the Big Island.

She remained on life support as her former boyfriend, Marwann Timothy Saad Jackson, 24, was charged with second-degree murder, second-degree murder by omission, kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault and second-degree robbery. Jackson's criminal record includes 18 prior charges, the Honolulu Advertiser reported.

"With his long list of violence and abuse, it makes you wonder why he was still walking around the streets," Michael Fay said.

After being taken off life support and declared dead, her kidneys and liver were harvested for transplant surgeries in three different people.

Sarah Fay's two other children, Adahy, 10, and Wahliya, 7, are with their father and his three other children in Pasadena, Calif.

"We continue our support of our niece and nephew to ensure they receive support as they adjust to the tragedy that has been bestowed upon them," Michael Fay said.

The last time Sarah Fay was together with her sister Stacey and brother Michael was in October, for Michael's wedding in Colorado.

Now, they have only photos of the their blond sister, who they said was so full of life.

"I know that even though her body's still there, her spirit is somewhere good and safe. She's not really there; it's just her body," Stacey Fay said.