Updated

A New York college student has been formally charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of his girlfriend inside her dorm room last month.

The Monroe County District Attorney's office says a grand jury indicted 21-year-old Clayton Whittemore on Tuesday.

Whittemore is a student at Utica College. He has been held without bail since shortly after the body of 18-year-old freshman Alexandra Kogut was found Sept. 29 at the State University of New York College at Brockport, near Rochester.

Whittemore had been visiting Kogut and was arrested at a Thruway rest area about 100 miles away. Both are from New Hartford in central New York.

Whittemore pleaded not guilty during his initial appearance in Sweden Town Court. His lawyer didn't initially return a call for comment on Tuesday's indictment.