An Alabama child died while in a state contractor’s care; what happens next?
Three-year-old Ke’Torrious “KJ” Starkes, Jr. died in Birmingham, Alabama, after being left in a hot car for five hours. At the time of his death, the child was in the care of a third-party contractor hired by the state’s Department of Human Resources (DHR), according to police.
Hot car death
KJ died on July 22 while in a car parked on Pine Tree Drive in Birmingham. He was left in the car while in the care of Covenant Services. Reports show the child was in foster care due to alleged drug use in his home.
The Covenant Services employee was supposed to drop him off at daycare after a supervised visit with his father. But instead, the worker allegedly ran personal errands, according to the family’s attorney, who spoke to the New York Times.
Police say KJ was pronounced dead at the scene. Law enforcement noted the car was off with the windows up. Temperatures topped 96 degrees in the area that day.
Birmingham police told Straight Arrow News, “due to this being an ongoing investigation, details will be provided as they become available.”
Consequences
No criminal charges have been filed in this case so far. The Covenant Services employee has been fired, but that employee could still face bigger consequences.
“Even though that individual doesn’t have legal custody of the child, they did have physical custody of the child and was transporting the child to a scheduled visitation,” Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Straight Arrow News. “So, that individual is responsible for KJ and the death, the individual should face the same criminal charges [a parent would].”
The employee called the family to apologize, according to a report from AL.com. “Sorry is not even enough to express how bad I feel,” the employee reportedly said. They went on to say they forgot KJ was in the car, adding, “I wouldn’t have killed no child.”
With the family hiring an attorney, civil lawsuits are expected to come as well against the employee, Covenant Services and the state of Alabama. That’s where things can get difficult. Because a government entity is involved, there might not be a lawsuit in the immediate future.
Rahmani explained that most states have a claims process. Lawyers must first make a claim, and they can file a lawsuit if it is denied.
He noted that cases like this often go to trial, despite the relative transparency of what seemingly happened in this case.
“When you’re dealing with the government, obviously, there’s political considerations at play too,” Rahmani said. “Sometimes government officials say, ‘You know what, I don’t want to stick my neck out and deal with the public backlash of writing a significant check to this family. I’m just going to let a jury sort it out, and that way, if there’s a judgment, then the government has to pay it.’”
While the employee has already lost their job, there’s a chance the employer could face some serious repercussions as well –– from losing their government contract to having their license revoked.
“If you’re dealing with licensing, whether it’s child care, whether it’s adult care, dependent adult special needs, that’s absolutely something that could cause an entity to lose their license if they’re hiring individuals that are unqualified or unsupervised,” Rahmani said.
Remembering KJ
The community will come together to remember KJ on Friday with a candlelight vigil and balloon release. The vigil will be held right across from the DHR building.
KJ’s funeral is scheduled for the following day.
The family has also started a petition calling for justice in the case. KJ’s body has already been released to his parents after an autopsy, according to a report from PEOPLE.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
