By H&R staff

BLOOMINGTON - A Decatur man facing murder charges is expected to have to wait until early next month to argue his case for a lower bond.

Frank Byers III, 24, entered not guilty pleas to two counts of murder at an arraignment Friday in McLean County Circuit Court. However, he was not able to argue for a bond reduction from $1 million because the judge who will hear his murder case was on vacation.

Byers instead entered the pleas before Judge Robert Freitag, who set a status hearing for Oct. 6. Defense lawyer Steve Skelton is expected to argue for a bond reduction at the October hearing.

Byers is charged with two counts of murder in the October death of Bloomington toddler Aaron O'Brien-Ishmael.

Police said Byers was baby-sitting the child for several hours on Sept. 30, 2007, and reported to the child's mother that the child had fallen and hit his head on a coffee table.

The 21-month-old child died at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria the following day. An inquest panel ruled the death a homicide, listing head injuries due to blunt force trauma as the cause of death.