Boston, MA: Eldrick D. Broom arraigned in rape, murder of Dominican woman who had moved to Boston to get her son medical care

A Roxbury man pleaded not guilty today to charges that he raped and murdered a Dominican woman who had moved to Boston so her son could get medical care, prosecutors said.

Eldrick D. Broom, 27, was free on personal recognizance at the time of the slaying after being charged with a different crime: beating up his pregnant girlfriend.

Broom was arraigned today in Suffolk Superior Court on charges of aggravated rape and first-degree murder for the Nov. 21 killing of Rosanna Camilo inside her Fairlawn Avenue apartment, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office said. Clerk Magistrate Gary D. Wilson ordered Broom held without bail.

DNA evidence left underneath Camilo’s fingernails linked Broom to the crime, prosecutors said today. His attorney, Norman Zalkind, said at Broom’s Dorchester Municipal Court arraignment in December that Broom was “strongly not guilty.’’

Broom was later indicted by a grand jury, which moved his case to Superior Court.

Camilo was a mother of three. She had come to the United States from the Dominican Republic last year to get better medical care for her toddler son.

The 17-month-old child was in his crib when his mother was attacked, raped, and strangled with such force that her larynx was crushed, prosecutors said.

Camilo’s 16-year-old daughter found her mother lifeless and partially naked in a rear bedroom of the apartment, according to prosecutors.

Broom was arrested in August on assault and battery charges, accused of beating up his pregnant girlfriend who lived in an apartment near Camilo’s, officials have said. He pleaded not guilty and was free on personal recognizance at the time of Camilo’s slaying.

Broom was also arrested in Brookline about a week after Camilo was killed, on charges of open and gross lewdness and disorderly behavior after allegedly urinating on a wall, according to court records.

Camilo’s family, including her husband of 18 years, Richard Nunez, have described Camilo as a devoted mother who was focused on caring for her child

“Her world was our family and the baby,’’ Nunez told the Globe last year.