LIVE BLOG: Inside the Cristian Fernandez hearing

Prosecutors and defense lawyers set aside three days for hearings in the Cristian Fernandez first-degree murder and sexual assault cases involving the suppression of the boy's first interviews with detectives and other issues to be settled before the cases can go to trial. Tuesday is the fourth day.

Channel 4's Elizabeth Cate is covering the proceedings. She will provide updates throughout Monday's hearing on this blog and have reports on newscasts at noon, 5 and 6 p.m.

She'll aslo have live reports on The Local Station at noon, 5 and 6 p.m.

State vs. Cristian Fernandez

Cristian Fernandez was charged in May 2011 with first-degree murder in the beating death of his 2-year-old half-brother.

He faces two separate trials -– a murder case which carries a mandatory life without parole sentence if he is convicted, and a sexual battery case involving an older sibling.

Cristian is 13 years old, but he was barely 12 when he was indicted on murder and aggravated child abuse charges by Florida State Attorney Angela Corey.

As the youngest person ever charged with first-degree murder in Duval County, the decision to charge Cristian with murder has drawn much criticism, locally and across the nation.

A petition requesting that the State Attorney reverse the decision to try Cristian as an adult has over 184,000 signatures.