The woman charged with the hot car death of a child in the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) last summer is set to face a pretrial hearing in August.
Kela Stanford, the driver for DHR-contracted Covenant Services, was charged with a Class B felony in the July 2025 death of three-year-old Ke'Torrius "KJ" Starkes, Jr. of Bessemer, who was allegedly left in a hot car for nearly five hours.
Prosecutors said Stanford, 55, was supposed to take the child to day care after visitation with his family, but instead, she went home.
SEE ALSO: State Rep. Sellers calls for reform in hot car death of 3-year-old in DHR custody
The family of the child has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against DHR and Stanford.
The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office announced in August 2025 that it had charged Stanford with a Class B felony for Starkes' death, carrying a penalty of 2-20 years in prison.
According to court records, a Jefferson County Circuit judge has set a pretrial hearing for Stanford in August. Stanford has yet to issue a formal plea, according to available documents. However, the pretrial hearing process allows for a negotiated plea deal or settlement.
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.
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