A little boy, 3-year-old Ke’Torrius “K.J.” Starkes Jr. died last week after being left alone for hours in a parked car under the Alabama summer sun. And the person responsible was the woman who was literally hired by the state to care for him.
Her name is Kela Stanford, a third-party worker contracted by the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR). She was supposed to pick K.J. up from daycare and take him to see his dad. This was all part of a court-ordered visitation plan while his parents worked on regaining custody
According to the family’s lawyer, the visit with his father ended around 11:30 a.m. Instead of taking him back to daycare like she was supposed to, Stanford decided to run some personal errands. With K.J. still buckled in his car seat. In the back seat. Windows up.
If you can believe it, she even went home at some point. Home. Parked the car. Left K.J. inside, and walked into her house like it was just a regular day.
According to her, she didn’t notice anything was wrong until five hours later when the daycare reached out, wondering why K.J. hadn’t been returned. That’s when she “realized” he was still in the car and called 911.
But by then it was too late.Temperatures that day hit 96°F, and the heat index made it feel more like 105°F. K.J. was pronounced dead at 6:03 p.m.
The Amiyah White Act, which makes it a felony to leave a child or incapacitated person in a car under dangerous conditions is the basis of the charge against her. She was arrested and released on a $30,000 bond. As of now, it’s unclear whether she has a lawyer.
The fact that this happened under the watch of the Department of Human Resources—the very system meant to protect vulnerable children, makes it even more painful. K.J.’s family is devastated. They called him their “bright little child,” and now they’re left mourning a brutal, preventable loss.
How does something like this happen? How does a caregiver forget a child in the back seat?
No child should die like this. No family should have to bury their baby because someone forgot about them.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
