Photo: Change.org
An Alabama mother is suing after her three-year-old son died after being left in a hot car for five hours, per PEOPLE.
Last month, Ke’Torrius “KJ” Starkes, 3, who was in foster care at the time, was supposed to be taken to daycare after a supervised visit with his father. Instead, a contracted worker responsible for KJ's transportation, identified as Kela Stanford, went grocery shopping, stopped at a tobacco store, and returned home twice, all while the boy was left in her car.
According to a lawsuit filed by KJ's mother, Stanford parked at her home and left the child in the vehicle for over five hours as outside temperatures surpassed 105°F.
"Inside that car, the temperature could have easily climbed past 140 degrees,” Stewart’s attorney, G. Courtney French, said. “It was a brutal death.”
At around 5:30 p.m., Stanford discovered the child unresponsive and called authorities. KJ was pronounced dead minutes later.
Stanford was arrested on charges of felony child endangerment. The lawsuit also names the contracted driver, her employer, Covenant Services Inc., and multiple Alabama Department of Human Resources workers, accusing them of negligence for failing to monitor KJ's whereabouts for over five hours.
“Had he been with his parents, nothing like this would have ever occurred,” French said.
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