Ke’Torrius Starkes Jr. was in foster care and left inside the vehicle for five hours in sweltering heat, officials say
A 3-year-old Alabama boy died after being left for hours in a hot car by a state contractor tasked with transporting him to a scheduled visit with his father, authorities said.
Ke’Torrius Starkes Jr., who was in the custody of Alabama’s Department of Human Resources (DHR), was left inside a vehicle for approximately five hours on July 22 in Birmingham as temperatures soared into the triple digits, according to police and family attorneys.
The child had just visited with his biological father and was being driven to daycare by a contracted DHR worker when the incident occurred. Instead of completing the trip, the contractor allegedly ran personal errands and later returned home — all while Ke’Torrius remained inside the car, said family attorney Courtney French in an interview with PEOPLE.
Authorities say the child was forgotten in the vehicle.
“This appears to have been accidental,” said Birmingham police Sgt. Laquitta Wade in a statement to NBC News. She confirmed that the contractor had “forgotten that the child was in the vehicle.” Police say the individual, whose identity has not been released, has been cooperative with the investigation and has since been fired.
Any criminal charges, Wade said, would be determined by the local prosecutor’s office.
French said the tragedy could have been prevented. “Had he been with his parents, nothing like this would have ever occurred,” he told PEOPLE.
Ke’Torrius’ parents, speaking through their attorney, described the loss as “a parent’s worst nightmare,” adding: “Our baby should be alive.”
The DHR confirmed the worker was employed by a private contractor and has since been terminated. The agency did not provide further comment.
An online petition calling for accountability has been launched in the child’s name, and the family is demanding justice for what they say was a preventable and devastating act of negligence.
