BLOOMINGTON - A Sept. 14 jury trial is scheduled for a Bloomington man accused of the 2007 beating death of his girlfriend's son.

Joe Mendez, 34, is charged with the murder of 4-year-old Logan Bratton. Mendez lived with the boy's mother, Donetta Ernst, in an apartment in the 800 block of West Washington Street.

According to court documents, Mendez offered multiple accounts to police of what happened to the boy to cause the blunt force trauma to his head, including one involving the child falling from a bunk bed.

Judge Robert Frietag told attorneys for the state and defense at their last court appearance that a trial date needed to be set in the two-year-old case.

Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Patton objected to a request for a continuance Friday by defense lawyer Shannon Lynch. Lynch said he is working with a medical expert who is expected to testify at the trial.

Both sides estimated that it could take a week for each of them to present their case to a jury. An interpreter will be in the courtroom to translate testimony for Mendez, who was born in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Mendez remains jailed in lieu of $100,000 bond. A pre-trial hearing is set for July 28.

Related

• Boy's previous injuries may surface at Bloomington man's trial