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<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-639d4df456db9e4db36dc890a6ee9590" style="color:#1a0101;font-size:14px"><strong><br>Ke&#8217;Torrius &#8216;KJ&#8217; Starkes Jr, 3, was left in the backseat of a hot car for five hours by a Dept. of Human Resources (DHR) contract worker in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 22 </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c768ef7ed26070fab74c4a13be1d85e8" style="color:#1a0101;font-size:14px"><strong>Kela Stanford, 55, charged with leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle, a Class B felon, is facing up to 20 years, if convicted</strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f03c9238e475e5e1dea20e63efdde4c8" style="color:#1a0101;font-size:14px"><strong>Stanford picked KJ from his daycare for a supervised visit with his biological father, <strong>she was scheduled to return the toddler to the Daycare, but never did</strong></strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-fb8bf34740d2b754bf27018dc276a3c7" style="color:#1a0101;font-size:14px"><strong>She told detectives she had a lot on her mind, forgot KJ was in her car and allegedly admitted negligence</strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b4db006e96f8d3993958ac536acf74b7" style="color:#1a0101;font-size:14px"><strong>Instead of returning the child to his Daycare as tasked, Stanford made at least three stops and returned home more than once, before leaving the child unattended while she watched movies and sorted packages</strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f3bfd0ac3c7dfafd992ef73fd07db356" style="color:#1a0101;font-size:14px"><strong>Found unresponsive and still in his fastened car seat in the vehicle parked in the driveway outside Stanford&#8217;s home, in 108 degree heat, KJ was declared dead 30 minutes later </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-91fd2b43d4145caf555bc6b4fa3d792f" style="color:#1a0101;font-size:14px"><strong>Boy&#8217;s mother has filed a wrongful death suit against eight people, including DHR, Stanford and her employer, Covenant Services</strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/KeTorrius-KJ-Starkes-Jr-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-486811" style="width:822px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size"><strong>Three-year-old Ke&#8217;Torrius &#8216;KJ&#8217; Starkes Jr. [photo], died in Birmingham <strong>on July 2</strong>2, after being left in the backseat of a hot car for five hours by a <strong>contract worker</strong> employed by the Alabama Dept. of Human Resources </strong></p>



<p>An social service worker employed by the Alabama Dept. of Human Resources has been charged after she caused a toddler to die after being left in an Alabama social service worker&#8217;s car in 108-degree heat while she opened Amazon packages and watched movies with her family, a court has heard.<br>Three-year-old Ke&#8217;Torrius &#8216;KJ&#8217; Starkes Jr. was left in the backseat of a hot car for five hours by Kela Stanford, a Department of Human Resources [DHR], contract worker, on July 22.<br>KJ was found unresponsive and still in his fastened car seat as the vehicle sat parked in the driveway outside Stanford&#8217;s Birmingham home, with the windows rolled up. The toddler was declared dead about 30 minutes after being found. <br>Stanford, 55, has been charged with leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle, a Class B felony that if convicted could see her sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.<br>Prosecutors testified during her preliminary hearing Wednesday that KJ &#8216;fried in the back of a car&#8217; after Stanford &#8216;failed miserably&#8217; to keep him safe. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kela-Stanford-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-486813" style="width:817px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size"><strong>Alabama social worker Kela Stanford, [photo], 55, is charged with leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle, a Class B felony. She faces to up to 20 years in prison <strong>if convicted </strong> </strong></p>



<p>Stanford told detectives she had a lot on her mind, forgot KJ was in her car and allegedly admitted negligence, investigators told her hearing. Prosecutors contend her actions were criminally negligent and reckless.<br>She made at least three stops and returned home more than once, before leaving him unattended while she watched movies and sorted packages, investigators said<br>Stanford who was working as a transport driver for Covenant Services Inc., a contractor of DHR, picked KJ from his daycare around 9am to take him to a county office for a supervised visit with his father, Ke&#8217;Torrius Starkes Sr.<br>The visit ended around 11.30am. Stanford who was tasked with driving the toddler back to the childcare facility, but failed to so. Instead she ran errands in the neighborhood where KJ&#8217;s daycare was located.<br>She stopped at a Church&#8217;s Chicken, Little Caesars and a tobacco shop to pick up cigars for her husband before returning to her own house.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kela-Stanford-center-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-486831" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size"><strong>At her preliminary hearing Wednesday, p<strong>rosecuto</strong>rs said KJ &#8216;fried in the back of a car,&#8217; after Stanford [center], &#8216;failed miserably&#8217; to keep him safe </strong></p>



<p>KJ was then left alone in the vehicle from 12.30pm until roughly 5.30pm, when Stanford received a call questioning why he had not been dropped off at daycare.<br>The care worker rushed outside and found KJ sitting lifeless in the backseat. He was declared dead by the local fire department at 6.03pm. ;<br>Attorney Courtney French, representing KJ&#8217;s mother ;Ethanlynn Stewart, described the tragedy as a &#8216;mother&#8217;s worst nightmare&#8217;.<br>&#8216;Instead of returning KJ back to the daycare where he was supposed to be, she went to a Church&#8217;s Chicken location across the street then to a pizza location,&#8217; French told Wednesday&#8217;s hearing. ;<br>&#8216;She was two blocks away from his daycare, and instead of returning KJ to his daycare, she drove home.&#8217;<br>The temperature inside the car likely exceeded 150 degrees during that time, according to a wrongful death suit filed by his family. ;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/KeTorrius-KJ-Starkes-Jr-3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-486839" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size"><strong>KJ died after Stanford picked him up from his daycare for a supervised visit with his biological father. She was supposed to return him to the Daycare after the visit. She did not, instead she went home and left him locked inside a car on an extremely hot day</strong></p>



<p>Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr echoed French&#8217;s remarks, alleging Stanford&#8217;s actions were criminally negligent and reckless.<br>&#8216;You had one job, and your job was to take care of that child. You failed miserably. Because of that, that child is no longer here,&#8217; Carr told Stanford in court. <br>For Stanford&#8217;s attorney Derek Simms, while the child&#8217;s death is a &#8216;terrible tragedy&#8217;, his client&#8217;s behavior was not criminal. The case he said, should be heard in a civil courtroom, he said.<br>County judge William Bell, however, denied the defense&#8217;s request to have the matter reviewed in civil court and instead ruled there is enough probable cause in the case to send it before a grand jury.<br>Stanford remains free on $30,000 bond.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Justice-for-KeTorrius-KJ-Starkes-Jr-protest-in-Birmingham-Alabama-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-486815" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size"><strong>Family and friends at a vigil had demanded the county District Attorney&#8217; office obtain justice for KJ. <strong>The county DA&#8217;s office issued a warrant for Stanford&#8217;s arrest on August 1</strong></strong></p>



<p>Covenant Services terminated Stanford&#8217;s employment after KJ&#8217;s death and on August 1, the county DA&#8217;s office issued a warrant for her arrest.<br>KJ was in foster care. His mother Ethanlynn Stewart who did not have custody of her toddler, filed a wrongful death suit against Stanford and multiple people with the DHR and Jefferson County Department of Human Resources that same month.<br>The complaint, seeks damages from eight people, as well as Covenant Services.<br></p>

Alabama social worker Kela Stanford locked 3-year-old in her care, in car outside her home for five hours, in 108-degree heat; toddler died while she watched movies, opened packages from Amazon
