BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC/Gray News) – A 3-year-old boy died after being left in a hot car in Birmingham, Alabama, on Tuesday while in the care of a Department of Human Resources contract worker.
The boy has been identified by family as Ke’Torrius “KJ” Starkes Jr., of Bessemer.
Authorities said KJ was found alone inside a hot vehicle that was parked at a home in the 1500 block of Pine Tree Drive. He was left in the car on Tuesday for five hours, 12:30-5:30 p.m., officials said.
Birmingham police said KJ was accidentally left inside the vehicle while in the care of Covenant Services, a third-party contracted worker through the Department of Human Resources.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead at the scene.
DHR released the following statement:
“A child in DHR custody was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred. The provider has terminated their employee. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.“
Police said the contracted worker has been cooperative and was taken to the Birmingham Police Headquarters for questioning.
Both KJ’s biological and foster families are struggling to understand how such a tragedy could have occurred.
Ke’Torrius Starkes Sr., the boy’s biological father, said he last saw his son during a scheduled visitation Tuesday morning at the DHR office in Bessemer. He had no idea it would be the final time he held his child.
“Words can’t even express how I feel right now,” Starkes said, holding back tears. “As soon as I leave my son, the first thing he says is, ‘Daddy, I want to go with you.’ He says that every time, and it really hurts.”
Starkes said he typically hands his son over to a representative from Covenant Services, a private child welfare provider, who is responsible for transporting the child to daycare after each visit.
But the family says when KJ’s foster mother arrived at the daycare to pick him up later Tuesday, he was nowhere to be found.
As both families mourn the loss of KJ, questions remain about how a child entrusted to the care of child welfare providers could be left in a car for five hours.
“We went to the theme parks. He had a blast… We just had a great time as a family,” said Ernest Miller, a cousin from KJ’s foster family. “We were all looking forward to him growing up and being a part of this family, and now, he’s just gone.”
The Birmingham Police Department is investigating.
