Kela Stanford, 54, the contract driver for the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR), has been charged with a Class B felony over a week after she allegedly returned home with a three-year-old boy after a scheduled visitation with his biological father and left him to die in the hot car.
Ke'Torrius "KJ" Starkes, Jr. of Bessemer, was found dead in Birmingham on Tuesday, July 23, after Stanford allegedly left him unattended in a hot car for nearly five hours.
Stanford is accused of taking Starkes to her home instead of to daycare after leaving visitation. She allegedly made several stops, including to a tobacco store, before arriving home and leaving Starkes in the car at around 12:30 p.m. Starkes was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:30 p.m.
Lawmakers and the public spent over a week calling for reform and accountability for DHR, as well as an investigation into Starkes’ death.
SEE: State Rep. Paschal: 3-year-old's death in DHR custody needs ‘thorough and impartial investigation’
SEE ALSO: State Rep. Sellers calls for reform in hot car death of 3-year-old in DHR custody
The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office on Friday announced it had charged Stanford with a Class B felony for Starkes’ death, carrying a penalty of 2-20 years in prison.
"This is a terrible tragedy that was completely avoidable and unnecessary,” the DA’s office said. “Our condolences go out to Ketorrius’s family.”
Stanford is charged with violating Alabama Code Section 13A-11-290, also called the Amiyah White Act, which charges her with “being a person for hire responsible for a child under the age of 7 and leaving the child unattended in a motor vehicle in a manner that creates an unreasonable risk of injury or harm.”
The 2013 law is named after a two-year-old Mobile girl who died after being left in a van.
Audio allegedly of Stanford with Starkes’ family has been released, showing Stanford distraughtly apologizing to the even more distraught family shortly after the death.
A bail amount for Stanford has not been released, and court records gave no additional details.
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