The family of a 3-year-old foster child in Alabama have been left distraught over the minor’s death after a Department of Human Resources worker left the minor in a hot car for five hours following a scheduled visit with his father.
Per AL.com, the incident occurred on Tuesday, and the minor was identified as Keterrious ‘KJ’ Starkes Jr. The vehicle Keterrious was in at the time of his death was parked at the driveway of a private home. The engine was not on, and the windows had also not been rolled down.
Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said that Keterrious was left inside the vehicle between 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
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Brittney Debruce, who is Keterrious’ aunt, said that the deceased 3-year-old was in the custody of DHR and staying with a foster parent. She said that Keterrious was absent at his daycare when the foster parent arrived to pick him up.
Debruce said Keterrious was picked up by a transport driver likely working for a company the DHR had contracted to handle visitation transportation for children. She said the transportation driver had taken her nephew to the DHR in Bessemer to see his father for a scheduled visit.
But Keterrious was not taken back to the daycare after seeing his father, and authorities later found the minor unattended in the car. “We don’t know what’s going on,” Debruce said. “This is a parent’s worst nightmare. Our baby should be alive,” Keterrious parents said in a statement shared by their attorney, Courtney French.
French told AL.com that a DHR-affiliated worker, who took Keterrious to meet his biological father for a supervised visit, was an employee of The Covenant Services. The worker left the daycare with Keterrious at 9 a.m, and the supervised visit with the minor’s father lasted until around 11:30 a.m.
French said the worker subsequently went to grab food for her family before making her way to a tobacco store to shop. But the worker left Keterrious alone in the car for several hours after she arrived home. “This is a heartbreaking and preventable tragedy,” French said.
“With the current extreme outside temperatures and the heat index of 108 degrees, the interior temperature of the car where KJ was trapped likely exceeded 150 degrees,” French added.
Authorities have since launched an investigation into Keterrious’ death. The DHR in a statement also said that the affiliated worker has since been terminated by her provider.
“A child in DHR custody was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred,” the statement said. “The provider has terminated their employee. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.”
