The mother of a 2-year-old boy whose body was found in a shallow grave last year pleaded not guilty to felony charges in connection to the toddler’s death in court Monday.

Meagan Work turned down plea agreements from the state, including 50 years for injury to a child and 20 years for tampering with evidence. The judge set jury selection for her trial to Nov. 12. 

Colton's great aunt Diane Battles says she isn't suprised by Work's plea. 

"I feel like she was going to do that, but we all know what they did," she said.

In September 2014, just days before his third birthday, Colton Turner’s body was discovered in a field in southeast Austin. Work’s boyfriend and Colton’s namesake, Michael Turner, told police that he and Work buried him there in July.

Five days after the body was found, a witness told police that he saw Work abusing Colton outside Turner's workplace on July 7—abuse that may have led to the boy's death later that night.

In court Monday, Colton's family sat in the front row, including his biological father, Brandon Pelfrey.

Michael Turner was also set to appear in court Monday, but recently had to hire a new lawyer. His previous defense attorney, Bill White, died earlier this month. Turner's new lawyer, Steve Brand say sthe public is only hearing one side of the story. 

"No matter what we dig up it is going to be different from the story that is presented to you guys first," he said.

While a trial might come late this year, the state legislature is working right now on preventing this from happening again.

House Bill 2053 also known as "Colton's Law" will allow CPS to notify police within seven days of the start of an investigation. Right now they have to wait 90-days.

"I'm hoping this bill will empower CPS to do their job," Rep. Marsha Farney of House District 20 said. "Unfortunately, last year alone 2,493 children were deemed unlocatable and because of that the cases were closed."

That means no one was looking for kids like Colton.

"They weren't there to help Colton in the early stage and I feel like Colton could have been saved if 2053 had been in place," Battles said.

Turner's next pre-trial hearing is set for May 26. Work is due in court again June 8.