2 Boys’ Heat Deaths Ruled as Homicides

The Los Angeles County coroner ruled the deaths of two young brothers left in a vehicle on a hot Lancaster day by their foster mother as homicides, after autopsies conducted Thursday.

The boys died of the effects of hyperthermia, the coroner said.

Nehemiah Prince, 3, and Dakota Prince, 5, were left outside a child-care center in a Cadillac Escalade for five hours Tuesday by Leslie Sue Smoot, their foster mother, coroner’s spokesman David Campbell said.

Smoot, 48, who operates the Lancaster child-care center, A Child’s Place, was arrested on suspicion of causing great bodily harm to the children. She was released Thursday on $100,000 bail and was ordered to appear in court July 30, when she could be arraigned if charges are filed.

Prosecutors said her release would give them more time to consider potential charges, including possibly manslaughter, against Smoot, a veteran foster parent who also operates other child-care centers.

When the children were found, the temperature was about 100 degrees. Inside the vehicle, investigators said, it could have reached 120 degrees.

Smoot tried to revive the children after finding them about 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to investigators. The older child was dead when paramedics arrived; his younger brother died later at a local hospital.

After the incident, Smoot’s own child and another foster child in her and her husband’s care were placed in county custody and the child-care center was closed.