Judge jailed in heat death

10-month-old died in July ’15

Garland County Circuit Judge Wade Naramore was arrested Thursday on a charge of negligent homicide in the heat-related death of his 17-month-old son in July 2015.

Naramore, 36, surrendered to the Hot Springs Police Department and was booked into the Garland County jail at 11:33 a.m., said Garland County Sheriff Mike McCormick. He was released on $5,000 bond.

Negligent homicide is a Class A misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

Second Judicial Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington of Jonesboro, was assigned in August to investigate the death. Naramore is to appear Feb. 23 in Hot Springs District Court.

“While we disagree with the prosecutor’s decision to pursue criminal charges

against Wade, the Naramores have been prepared for this and for the public to better understand what happened to their family,” said Naramore’s lawyers, Patrick Benca of Benca & Benca and Erin Cassinelli of Lassiter & Cassinelli, in a statement released Thursday night.

“It is our opinion that there is no legal or factual basis for believing Wade committed any crime,” the statement continued. “We are confident that the citizens entrusted with the responsibility to consider all of the facts and the applicable law will agree that this was a tragedy but not a crime.”

The judge’s arrest came more than six months after police released the findings of a preliminary investigation that determined Thomas Naramore died July 24 from “excessive heat” after being left unattended in a Toyota Avalon in Hot Springs. A probable cause affidavit filed with the charge against Naramore said the judge told police he had forgotten to drop Thomas off at day care that day and that the baby had been left in the car about five hours.

Ellington had been expected to make a decision by the end of January on whether to charge Naramore, but the prosecuting attorney said Thursday that the significant amount of evidence that had to be obtained and analyzed took longer than initially anticipated.

Ellington said he did not authorize Hot Springs police to arrest Naramore until Wednesday afternoon.

“I would be cold-blooded if I couldn’t say that the circumstances are just tragic,” Ellington said. “They’re tragic for the child, they’re tragic for the family, they’re tragic for the community.

“I have a heart just like anybody else. That’s why we stand up for the victims and who we work for.”

David Sachar, executive director of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, said the commission will seek an interim suspension of Naramore now that he has been arrested. The commission is responsible for investigating the conduct of judges and judicial candidates.

Suspension with pay is the only option available in Naramore’s case, Sachar said.

The commission is expected to meet by teleconference Tuesday. If the commission recommends to suspend Naramore, the suspension will have to be approved by the Arkansas Supreme Court, which also could happen Tuesday, Sachar said. Naramore has the right to contest the commission’s recommendation.

“The whole idea is to not have a judge on the bench who’s distracted or [could] somehow harm the public because they’re facing charges,” Sachar said. “I liken it to an officer involved in a shooting. They’re always suspended with pay until we find out if the shooting is justified.”

The suspension would remain in effect until adjudication of the Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission case pending against Naramore. The commission would take into account the findings of the criminal case.

“If a judge is convicted of a crime, then it’s a violation of the code by a judge not complying with the law,” Sachar said. “If the judge were to be acquitted, then there still might be issues of what we would consider disability. Is the judge mentally fit or able to serve as judge?”

Naramore has not been on the bench since Thomas’

death. Sachar said the judge has maintained his judicial powers, has signed orders and supervised his staff.

“That was by his own voluntary agreement,” Sachar said. “I had no authority to force him to do that.”

Officers responded at 3:13 p.m. July 24 to Naramore’s 911 call at the corner of Fairoaks Place and James Street and found Naramore inside a residence at 120 Fairoaks Place. Naramore was holding his toddler and yelling “No, my baby! No, my baby!” according to the probable cause affidavit signed Jan. 13 by Hot Springs detective Mark Fallis.

As EMS personnel examined the baby at the scene, Naramore stated numerous times that “I killed my baby!” the affidavit said.

Thomas showed signs of lividity — or bluish-gray discoloration — in his lower extremities and was pronounced dead on the scene, the report said. Garland County Coroner Stuart Smedley said Thomas’ core temperature was 107 degrees, Fallis noted in his report. When officers answered the 911 call, the outside temperature was between 97 and 98.1 with a heat index ranging from 104.8 to 106.5 degrees.

Within days of Thomas’ death, Naramore, his wife, Ashley, and friends and family voluntarily went to the Police Department to be interviewed by detectives. Thomas, who was given his father’s middle name, died on the same day as the couple’s fifth wedding anniversary.

Naramore was formally interviewed Nov. 23 with his attorney, Patrick Benca, present.

During the interview, Naramore told police he was driving to work at about 8:15 a.m. July 24 with Thomas in tow. Naramore got off work early, ran some errands and went home.

“He was leaving his residence to go pick Thomas up from day care,” Fallis said in his affidavit. “As he turned a corner he heard a noise in the rear of his car that caused him to turn around.

“As he turned around, he noticed Thomas was in his car seat and he had not been dropped off at day care.” At that point, he stopped the car, got Thomas out of his car seat and called for help.

At least 12 Arkansas children have died of heatstroke in vehicles since 2005, according to Jan Null, a meteorologist and lecturer at California’s San Jose State University who tracks such information. Three of the deaths involved trunk entrapment.

A 2015 review by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette shows there were five convictions in the 11 such deaths since 2005 that have been fully adjudicated: four on misdemeanor charges and one on a felony charge of negligent homicide.

In the negligent-homicide case, the parents were given suspended sentences of one year in jail.

One of the misdemeanor convictions involved the 2009 deaths of two children who were found unconscious in a car trunk in Springdale. Another case involved a misdemeanor negligent-homicide charge that was later dropped.

No charges were filed in four of the cases.

Naramore