A toddler died inside a hot car in a tragic accident because a state contractor had "forgotten that the child was in the vehicle," Alabama authorities said Monday.
Ke'Terrious Starkes Jr., 3, of Bessemer, was pronounced dead early Tuesday evening after he was found in a hot car in the 1500 block of Pine Tree Drive in Birmingham, Birmingham police said in a statement.
Afternoon temperatures reached the 90s on Tuesday, accompanied by humidity that made it feel like triple digits.
"At this time, the only thing that I can say is that we believe it [the child’s death] was accidental," Police Sgt. Laquitta Wade told NBC News on Monday, adding that the contractor had "forgotten that the child was in the vehicle."
Wade added that the police investigation continues and that the district attorney would ultimately make any charging decisions.
Authorities say Ke'Terrious, who was in the foster care system, had been picked up by a "contracted worker" with the state Department of Human Resources from day care for a scheduled visit with his father.
After the visit, the boy was supposed to be driven back to day care but somehow ended up at the driver's home and left inside the car, police said. Authorities were dispatched to the Prine Tree Drive home at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Ke'terrious “was accidentally left inside of a vehicle while in the care of a third-party contracted worker through the Department of Human Resources,” a police statement said. “Birmingham Fire & Rescue Service arrived and pronounced the victim deceased.”
The contracted worker, who authorities have not identified, was questioned by investigators and "has been cooperative," the police statement said.
It's still unclear how many hours the child was left in the hot car, Wade said.
"A child in DHR custody was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred," the Department of Human Resources said in a statement. "The provider has terminated their employee. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.”
Police have told the boy's family that he was in that car for five hours, aunt Brittney Debruce said Monday.
The contractor involved in the incident regularly drove the boy to and from scheduled, supervised visits, so there should have been no confusion, Debruce said.
"So this isn't her first time picking him up; this is what she does for her job," said Debruce, sister of the youngster's mother.
A candlelight vigil for the boy is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday in Bessemer, across the street from the DHR building in that city.
His memorial service is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Sixth Avenue Beulah Baptist Church in Bessemer.
"I truly believe in my heart, because I have met her several times and she has transferred kids a lot, I don't think she killed my nephew intentionally," Debruce said. "But she made a mistake. We definitely want answers, and we won't stop."
