COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- A Council Bluffs family on Tuesday ended its fight to donate the organs of a man allegedly beaten to death.

Jeffrey Harriman died Monday, three days after an apparent attack behind a Council Bluffs supermarket.

Harriman's family kept him on life support, they said, because they hoped his organs could help others.

Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said he needed the body to build a murder case.

Wilber said on Tuesday that Harriman's family is convinced that an autopsy is necessary if the case is going to be prosecuted successfully.

Harriman was declared dead on Monday but his body was on life support to preserve his organs for transplant. His family on Tuesday removed life support and Harriman's body will be taken to the state medical examiner's office in Iowa for autopsy.

"We wished we could have donated his organs to save other lives, but we also know it's important to prosecute the monsters who did this to him," the family said in a statement. "We hope Iowa will pass a law similar to the one in Nebraska that could allow for an autopsy and organ donation. When they do, we hope they'll call it Jeff's Law."

Charles Armstrong and Mark Foster are both being held in jail as suspects in the beating of Harriman. Investigators said that both men are transients. Wilber said late Tuesday that he will file first-degree murder charges against the men.