Photo: Change.org
A 3-year-old toddler in Alabama who died after being left inside a hot car for five hours was "forgotten" by a state contractor, police said.
According to PEOPLE, Ke'Torrius Starkes Jr., who was in foster care, was being transported to a visit with his father by a Department of Human Resources contractor when he died.
Starkes was reportedly left in a car for five hours in the afternoon as temperatures hit triple digits.
Birmingham police Sgt. Laquitta Wade noted that the contractor had "forgotten that the child was in the vehicle."
"At this time, the only thing that I can say is that we believe it [the child’s death] was accidental," Wade said in a statement.
According to police, the contractor was terminated and is cooperating with an investigation into the fatal incident. Potential charges against the contractor will be pursued by prosecutors.
Starkes' family lawyer, Courtney French, said in a statement: "Had he been with his parents, nothing like this would have ever occurred."
According to French, the DHR contractor allegedly left Starkes in the car while she went shopping for her family. The contractor returned to their own residence and by that time had left Starkes in the car for five hours, French alleged.
"This is a parent's worst nightmare. Our baby should be alive," the child's parents said in a statement.
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