A 3-year-old boy who was in the care of a contractor for Alabama’s human resources department died on Tuesday after a transport driver left him alone in a hot car for around five hours.
The child was identified by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office as Ketorrius “KJ” Starks Jr, of Bessemer, according to AL.com.
The vehicle was left in the driveway of a home with the windows rolled up.
Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said the boy had been left in the car from 12.30 p.m. until around 5.30 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 6.03 p.m.
Temperatures were in the mid-to-high 90s on Tuesday afternoon in the area, but with humidity factored in, it would have felt as high as 103 degrees at 1 p.m. and 100 degrees by 5 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
According to the boy’s aunt, Brittney Debruce, the boy was in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources and was living at a foster home.
When the foster parent went to pick the boy up from daycare, he was not there.
According to Debruce, a transport driver — who was as a contractor for the DHR driving children to visitations — picked the boy up and took him to a DHR office in Bessmer for a scheduled visit with his father.
After the visit, Ketorrius was never brought back to the day care.
Debruce and the Birmingham police eventually found the child inside the car. The boy’s mother was then notified that her son had died, leaving the family distraught.
“We don’t know what’s going on,” Debruce told AL.com.
The DHR provided a statement to AL.com about the incident.
“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,” the agency said.
Birmingham police are investigating the child’s death.
The company that picked up Ketorrius is called The Covenant Services. According to the Debruce family attorney, Courtney French, after the driver took Ketorrius from his visit with his father, the worker stopped to grocery shop and to buy tobacco.
The worker then returned home and left the boy in the car.
The Independent has requested comment from The Covenant Services.
“This is a heartbreaking and preventable tragedy.” French told the outlet.
She estimated that with the heat index the day of the incident hitting 108 degrees Farhenheit, the temperature inside the car was likely around 150 degrees.
Ketorrius’s parents issued a statement, calling the situation their “worst nightmare.”
“Our baby should be alive,” the parents said.
