BLOOMINGTON - A Bloomington man pleaded innocent Friday to charges that he was responsible for the April 4 death of 3-year-old Logan Bratton.

Joe Mendez, 32, told Judge Robert Freitag he had difficulty understanding English during the brief arraignment. Assistant Public Defender Jim Tusek said he could explain to Mendez the possible penalties for the three counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery to a child.

Frietag ordered an interpreter for future proceedings.

Mendez was charged following Logan's death at a Peoria hospital. Autopsy results indicated severe trauma, swelling and bleeding in the child's brain that was the result of inflicted closed-head trauma, according to the prosecution.

Mendez, who had as many as eight aliases listed in jail records, remains in custody in lieu of $100,000.

Suspect lived in child's home

Police said Mendez lived with the child's mother, Donetta Ernst, since February in an apartment in the 800 block of West Washington Street.

Four members of the Mendez family who were in court talked with Tusek after the hearing.

According to the state's attorney's office, Mendez gave multiple versions of what happened to the child, including that he fell off a bunk bed, fell on a toy or hit his head on a toy.

Mendez told police "that he struck Logan in the head with his hand at which point Logan fell to the floor and struck his head on the floor or an object on the floor and thereafter stopped breathing," according to a statement from prosecutors.

If convicted, Mendez could be sentenced to up to 100 years in prison on the murder counts because his previous criminal convictions make him eligible for an extended sentence. The aggravated battery count, a Class X felony, carries a term of six to 30 years in prison.

A June 1 status hearing has been set for Mendez before Judge Scott Drazewski.