An investigation has been launched after a three-year-old boy died when he was left inside a hot car by a contractor for Alabama's Department of Human Resources (DHR). The child, Ke'Tornius Starkes Jr, was in foster care and had been collected by the worker following a supervised visit with his father on Tuesday morning.
The boy was supposed to be taken to a daycare programme by the contractor, but instead was left strapped alone in a vehicle with tinted windows in Bessemer, a suburb of Birmingham. The outdoor temperature on the day was high.
Police were called to a private home in Bessemer at around 5.30pm and found the child unresponsive. According to the Birmingham Police Department, the boy was “accidentally left inside of a vehicle while in the care of a third-party contracted worker through the Department of Human Resources”. The Jefferson County chief deputy coroner, Bill Yates, said the car’s ignition was off and all doors and windows were closed, and there was “no other competing cause of death”.
A DHR spokesperson confirmed that the child was in the department’s custody and being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred. The provider has since terminated the employee. “Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances,” the spokesperson added.
Police are investigating whether any criminal charges should be filed. State Senator Merika Coleman, a Democrat, said: “We need answers, and we may need to examine state law to make sure this never happens again.”
