Family files wrongful death lawsuit after 3-year-old dies under DHR care: ‘Had a duty to protect him’

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC/Gray News) – The family of a 3-year-old boy who died in a hot car while in the care of the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Authorities say Ke’Torrius “KJ” Starkes was being transported to day care by a Covenant Services employee at the time of his death. Covenant Services is a third-party contractor for DHR.

Kela Stanford, 54, is charged in connection with leaving a child in a vehicle. She was arrested on Aug. 1.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office confirmed Starkes was left inside the vehicle on July 22 in Birmingham from approximately 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. He was found unresponsive and pronounced dead.

The lawsuit filed by attorney G. Courtney French named nine defendants, including worker Stanford, Covenant Services, Inc, and seven employees with the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

“While K.J. was in DHR’s custody, the Defendants had a duty to protect him from abuse and neglect; instead, they caused his abuse and neglect, and ultimately his death,” said French. “The Child Protective Services system, designed to prevent harm to our precious children, is badly broken.”

According to the lawsuit, Stanford stopped to pick up food for her family and then delivered the food to her home while leaving K.J. in the hot car with the windows rolled up. Stanford then left her home again to go shop at a tobacco store with K.J. in the hot car, still fastened in his car seat with the child locks on the doors.

“For more than five hours, the defendants who had custody of K.J. failed to check on his safety or whereabouts. We want to know how this could happen?” French said.

The National Weather Service issued a Heat Advisory, reporting temperatures over 95 degrees with a heat index range of 105 to 109 degrees on the day KJ was left in the hot car. The temperature inside the vehicle, which was equipped with illegal dark tint, was estimated at 140 degrees.

The civil lawsuit seeks punitive damages for KJ’s wrongful death and demands a jury trial.

French says the family still has not heard anything from DHS, which led them to file the lawsuit against multiple employees as well as Covenant Services.

French says the entire system failed KJ.

“Every person who was responsible for that baby’s safety, his welfare, his wellbeing, we want to make sure they are included as well,” says French. “None of the people who are involved in this lawsuit ever inquired where KJ was? Was he OK? They had no idea.”

French shared that Stanford’s car, a 2020 Nissan Maxima SV, is equipped with technology that would alert a driver if someone was left in the backseat. It is unknown if that function was enabled or not.

French is also calling for more oversight from DHR when it comes to taking care of the thousands of children in their custody.

“DHR has a protocol anytime that there is a death, especially of a child, to make in-person notification that your child has died. The one call that they did receive was from someone from DHR over the phone. No one has called to explain how this could have happened. DHR had custody. KJ didn’t have a choice in his whereabouts; he was forced to be where he was,” explains French.

French adds that DHR needs more checks and balances when it comes to keeping track of the children in their custody.

“Think about it: if you order Uber Eats or Door Dash, you can track your meal from the time it is prepared to your home … it is not rocket science to know where these children are every step of the way if you are the ones that are responsible for their custody,” says French.

WBRC reached out to Covenant Services, but they said they have no comment. WBRC is also awaiting a response from DHR.