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 as the department interviews potential witnesses, attempts to locate any video surveillance, and 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 Garland County prosecutor petitioned the state to recuse Monday from the case because Naramore is a former deputy prosecutor.
Garland County Prosecuting Attorney Terri Harris said Monday that, because of her relationship with the Naramore family, "I cannot be involved in the investigation of the case or the prosecution of whatever charges might be filed."
Naramore worked as a deputy prosecutor before being elected circuit judge in November 2014. "I hired him and was his boss for a time," Harris said. "The other deputy prosecutors here worked with him on a regular basis and were friends with him and his wife."
She said she was in the process Monday of filing paperwork to be sent to the state office of the prosecutor coordinator in Little Rock to formally recuse from the case. A special prosecutor will have to be appointed to handle the case after Harris is relieved.
Harris stressed, "I will have no say whatsoever in who is chosen and will not be involved in any of the decisions he or she may make regarding the case from that point."
She noted that one of the other circuit judges would fill in for Naramore in Division 2, which hears all juvenile cases in the county, this week and a special judge would likely be appointed to take over "for whatever period of time is necessary" after that.
Circuit Judge Lynn Williams was reportedly filling in for Naramore on Monday.
The appointing of a special prosecutor aside, Harris stressed that the case was being handled just like any other case.
"There have been allegations the family is getting preferential treatment. That is absolutely not the case," she said. "At this point in time, the Hot Springs Police Department is actively investigating the case and will continue to work on the case until they have satisfied themselves and a decision has to be made as to whether there was any criminal wrongdoing."
Harris urged the general public "to be patient with the process and let them do their jobs."
She said investigators are "following the same procedures with this investigation that they would with any other under similar circumstances. Particularly in deaths involving a child, there is a period of time before the investigation is concluded and a decision being made as to criminal wrongdoing."
She noted it might be weeks before the full report was released.
"There are a lot of rumors going around and people who think they know what happened," she said.
"Whoever is appointed to prosecute the case will have to meet with the police and review all the details before making a decision," she said.
Bob McMahan, prosecutor coordinator for the state, said Monday he had received Harris' petition noting her office's conflict of interest due to Naramore being a former employee and a sitting judge, and he just had to get approval of her request to be recused by the judge assigned to the case.
McMahan said late Monday that Scott Ellington, of Jonesboro, had been chosen as the special prosecutor. Ellington is the elected prosecuting attorney for the 2nd District in Jonesboro.
Means said that, until the prosecutor is named, and the Hot Springs Police Department has had an opportunity to consult with them, "we will continue to withhold any further information in order to maintain the investigative integrity of this case."
Hot Springs Police Chief David Flory said Monday that any allegations of the department conducting a "cover-up" because of who is involved in the death of the 18-month-old child Friday is ridiculous.
"It is very, very common, and I think we see it every day across all lines of the media, that police departments across America withhold investigative facts on lots of cases.
"It's not even worthy of a comment to answer a question about being accused of a cover-up due to who it is. To me that is a ridiculous notion. We don't cover things up in this police department. I hired in four and a half years ago under the promise of being transparent and I've done that. This department has done that for the four and a half years I've led it and this department will continue to do that," he said.
Flory said it's not uncommon at all for law enforcement agencies to withhold facts.
"We don't want to falsely accuse anyone, and it's not even worthy of a comment that we're withholding information because of who it is. That's ridiculous," he said.
While information regarding who is involved in the incident was not initially released, and several comments on social media have criticized the police department for not releasing that information, Flory said he has not received any criticism and would not comment on any criticism.
"People are free to feel the way they feel. No matter what we do, we're going to get criticized. I'm used to it. I've been doing this for 37 years so I'm kind of used to it," he said.
"Oftentimes, especially in the last year when we've seen law enforcement really come under scrutiny, we get criticized regardless of what we do. I think the police department, and me as police chief, have shown this community in the last several years that we are committed to doing the right thing always at the right time and we'll continue to do the right thing despite what the criticism is.
"We will continue to investigate this case until it is complete and then we'll consult with the prosecuting attorney's office," he said.
Flory said police officers are "finders of facts," and it's not their job to judge.
"When we finish finding all the facts, we'll turn the case over to the prosecuting attorney's office and leave it in their hands," he said.
The 90th General Assembly amended the state code earlier this year to trigger a mandatory suspension with pay if a judge is charged with a felony or an offense "that involves moral turpitude," according to Act 938 of 2015.
A felony conviction had been the previous threshold for automatic suspension. A provision added to the law allows judges to petition the Arkansas Supreme Court to lift the suspension while the charges are pending.
The new provision reads: "If the judge shows at the hearing by a preponderance of the evidence that: The performance of his or her duties as a judge while charges are pending will not impair the public confidence in the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary; and the charges are not likely to result in a conviction."
An acquittal or dismissal of charges ends the suspension. State law allows for the removal of a judge if he or she is convicted of a felony or a criminal act that "reflects adversely on the judge's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a judge in other respects."
Local on 07/28/2015