A judge set bail at $1 million Friday for a Little Rock man accused of killing his 16-month-old son by burning him with hot water.
Joseph Johnson, 23, was arrested Thursday night and booked into the Pulaski County jail on a charge of first-degree murder.
Responders were called to Johnson's Little Rock residence on June 3 after the toddler suffered second- and third-degree burns on nearly half his body, according to a Little Rock Police Department report.
Johnson then told investigators he was trying to give the child a bath and was "unaware that the temperature of the water was too hot," the report said.
Police then said the burns appeared to be an accident, but a Little Rock Police Department spokesman said Friday that the medical examiner determined the injuries were "intentional."
The child was airlifted to Arkansas Children's Hospital, where he died June 19.
Johnson didn't speak during a brief video appearance before Little Rock District Court Judge Alice Lightle, during which she ordered the $1 million bail and entered a preliminary innocent plea for Johnson.
Prosecutors did not tell the judge details about the crime during the hearing after a public defender waived the reading.
"The court has read these allegations, horrific as they are," Lightle told the two attorneys.