Alabama state contractor arrested after the hot-car death of a toddler she was caring for, police say

By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — An Alabama state-contracted worker has been arrested in connection with the death of 3-year-old Ke’Torrius “K.J.” Starkes Jr., who died last week after he was left unattended in a car for several hours in the sweltering summer heat.

Kela Stanford, who was tasked with caring for K.J. on the day of his death, was arrested Friday on a felony charge of leaving a child in a car, the Birmingham Police Department announced. Stanford was a third-party worker contracted by the Alabama Department of Human Resources, which had custody of the child at the time, police spokesperson De’Rell Freeman confirmed to CNN.

K.J.’s family has called the death of their “bright little child” a “brutal” scenario and has leveled harsh criticism against the Department of Human Resources. CNN has sought comment from DHR on the arrest.

On the day of his death on July 22, the child was “being transported by a contract provider,” according to the department.

That morning, the family said the worker picked K.J. up from day care for a supervised visit with his father. The visit, which was part of a court-ordered process for the parents to regain their custody of K.J., ended around 11:30 a.m., according to Courtney French, the family’s attorney.

“Rather than properly returning K.J. immediately to day care, the worker made numerous personal errands with K.J. buckled in a car seat in the back of her car,” French told CNN last week.

According to a timeline provided by French, the employee went home at 12:30 p.m., leaving K.J. “strapped inside the vehicle, with all windows up and the car engine off.” He was left in the parked car outside the employee’s home for more than five hours before the day care reached out to her to ask why K.J. hadn’t returned, French said.

“The worker told law enforcement that it was only then that she realized K.J. was still in her vehicle” and 911 was called, French said. K.J. was pronounced dead at 6:03 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

During the time window when K.J. was allegedly left alone inside the car, temperatures topped 96 degrees and heat index values – which account for the feeling of both heat and humidity – ranged from 101 to 105 degrees, according to CNN meteorologists.

The department said the worker has been fired by the contracting agency. When CNN attempted to reach the agency by phone on Friday, an employee said it is not accepting calls and hung up.

The charge against Stanford stems from the Amiyah White Act, which “prohibits leaving a child or an incapacitated person unattended in a motor vehicle in a manner that creates an unreasonable risk of injury or harm,” police said in a statement.

K.J.’s death is the first hot car death in Alabama this year, and he is at least the 16th child to die in a hot car nationwide in 2025, according to Amber Rollins, the director of Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit organization dedicated to its namesake issue.

Stanford was booked at the Jefferson County Jail and has posted a $30,000 bond, jail records show. CNN has been unable to determine whether she has legal representation.

CNN’s Rebekah Riess and Rafael Romo contributed to this report.

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