3-year-old dies after being left in hot car in Alabama while in state custody

According to the deceased boy’s aunt Brittney DeBruce, he was supposed to be transported to a day care program by a worker for a contractor of the human resources department. However, the boy was left alone in a car with tinted glass on a hot day in Bessemer, a suburb of Birmingham.

NEW: 3 year old foster care child passes away while in state custody after being left in a hot car in Birmingham, Alabama.

Infuriating.

Ke’Torrius Starkes Jr. passed away following a supervised visit with his father.

According to police, Starkes was “accidentally left inside… pic.twitter.com/ksCJdKW3xa

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 27, 2025

DeBruce, in an interview on Friday, said that the boy, whose nickname was KJ, was trapped in the vehicle from 12:30pm to 5:30pm (local time) on Tuesday, New York Times reported. The victim’s family attorney G. Courtney French said the woman who was tasked with the job to transport the boy worked for Covenant Services.

Detailing about the series of events, lawyer French said the woman picked KJ from the supervised visit at the Department of Human Resources in Bessemer, then bought food, dropped it off at home, went to a tobacco shop, and returned home again and parked. It was only when around 5:30pm (local time), the day care center called her to ask about the whereabouts of the child, that KJ was trapped in the car.

The Birmingham Police Department was alerted about the incident and said that officers were sent to the scene shortly after 5:30 pm to a private home in Bessemer, to a report of an unresponsive child. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.