LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Officials say a southwest Arkansas high school football player who collapsed during practice and died had a heart condition.
Assistant Arkansas State Crime Laboratory Director Richard Gallagher said Friday that 15-year-old Gurdon High School sophomore Montel Williams died of natural causes.
Gallagher says the specific problem with Williams’ heart won’t be known until further testing is complete.
Williams collapsed about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, just more than an hour into the practice in which players were wearing all their gear. He was pronounced dead just before 10 p.m. at Baptist Health Medical Center in Arkadelphia — about 15 miles away.
The National Weather Service says it was 93 degrees in Arkadelphia at 8 p.m. Tuesday with a heat index of 110 degrees.
