An Alabama family is searching for answers after their toddler died in while in the care of child services. The parents of Ke’Torrius Starkes Jr. were in the process of regaining custody of the boy. As a result, he was in the care of the Alabama Department of Human Resources. An employee who was contracted by the office was in charge of transporting the boy to a family visit. And while the employee did that, they also did something else. The contractor left the boy in their car for hours while they ran errands. The child was eventually discovered after someone called to inquire about where he was.
On Tuesday, June 22, 3-year-old Ke’Torrius Starkes Jr., who also went by KJ, was found unresponsive inside a car in front of a Birmingham home, People reported. The toddler had been placed in state care because of alleged drug use in his parents’ home.
WVTM reported that according to the coroner, the boy had been left in the car between 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 6:03 p.m. That afternoon, the temperature reached 96 degrees F, with a heat index in the triple digits.
According to the family, KJ was picked up at day care center by a worker for a company contracted by the Alabama Department of Human Resources. The boy was then taken for a visit with his father that lasted from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
“Rather than properly returning KJ immediately to day care, the worker made numerous personal errands with KJ buckled in a car seat in the back of her car,” the family’s attorney, Courtney French, told CNN.
The employee allegedly returned to their home around 12:30 p.m., leaving KJ “strapped inside the vehicle, with all windows up and the car engine off.” About five hours later, a day care called the worker to ask about why he hadn’t been returned. It was at that moment the employee realized what happened. They then called 911.
“A child in DHR custody was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred,” a spokesperson for Alabama DHR said in a statement provided to multiple outlets. “The provider has terminated their employee. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.”
“It’s just hard to comprehend that you would leave a baby in a hot car and just have no recollection whatsoever that the baby, a 3-year-old child, is trapped in your car,” French told CNN.
The family prepared a statement provided to the media by French. “This is a parent’s worst nightmare. Our baby should be alive,” they said.
The Birmingham Police Department is investigating the death of Ke’Torrius Starkes Jr. No arrests have been made. His cause of death is still pending.
