A preliminary investigation shows that the 18-month-old son of Division 2 Garland County Circuit Court Judge Wade Naramore died as the result of “excessive heat” on Friday, after being left unattended in a “hot car” for an undetermined amount of time, the Hot Springs Police Department said Monday.
“As of noon today, the Arkansas State Crime Lab has unofficially ruled this death was caused by excessive heat. The crime lab will not release an official cause of death until toxicology reports are concluded, sometime in the next few weeks,” police Cpl. McCrary Means said in a news release Monday afternoon.
Means said the criminal investigation is continuing in the case, the department interviews potential witnesses, attempts to locate any video surveillance, reviews 911 calls and police dash-camera video and audio.
“We can confirm that the reporting person that called 911 has been identified as Wade Naramore, the child’s father. Additionally, both Mr. Naramore and his wife, along with numerous friends and family members, voluntarily came to the police department and were interviewed by detectives," the release said.
After the questioning, Naramore was released pending the ongoing investigation, he said.
“The police department has been in continual consultation with the Garland County prosecutor’s office since this incident has occurred,” he said. The prosecutor asked to recuse from the case Monday, citing a conflict because Naramore is a former deputy prosecutor.