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The boy, who was in foster care, was being transported between a supervised visit and day care, his aunt said. State lawmakers said they were seeking answers and the police were investigating.
July 25, 2025, 3:44 p.m. ET
A 3-year-old boy who was in the care of a contractor for Alabama’s human resources department has died after being left in a hot car for about five hours, the authorities said, prompting an investigation and a call from state lawmakers for better oversight.
The child, Ke’Torrius Starkes, Jr., who was in foster care, had been picked up at about 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday after a supervised visit with his father, the boy’s aunt, Brittney DeBruce, said. She said the child was supposed to be transported to a day care program by a worker for a contractor with the human resources department, which oversees child protection, foster care and other social services.
Ke’Torrius, whose nickname was KJ, was left in a vehicle from about 12:30 p.m. to about 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday in Bessemer, a southwestern suburb of Birmingham, Ms. DeBruce said in an interview on Friday.
A lawyer for the family, G. Courtney French, said in an interview that the woman who was transporting the boy was a worker for Covenant Services, Inc. He said that after she picked him up from the supervised visit at the Department of Human Resources in Bessemer, she bought food, dropped it off at home, went to a tobacco shop, and returned home again and parked.
Around 5:30 p.m., the day care center called her, asking where the child was, Mr. French said. KJ was strapped in the car, which had tinted windows, he said.
“This is a tragedy and a nightmare for any parent,” he said.
The Birmingham Police Department said that officers were dispatched shortly after 5:30 p.m. to a private home in Bessemer to respond to a report of an unresponsive child. It said he was “accidentally left inside of a vehicle while in the care of a third-party contracted worker through the Department of Human Resources.”
