Three-year-old Ke’Torrius “KJ” Starkes Jr. tragically died after being left for hours in a hot car by a contracted employee of Alabama’s Department of Human Resources. Authorities say the worker, instead of returning KJ to safety after a supervised visit with his father, ran personal errands before leaving him strapped in the vehicle, where temperatures soared past 150 degrees inside. KJ was found unconscious around 5:30 p.m. on June 22 and later pronounced dead. The incident has sparked outrage as the very system meant to protect him failed, with an investigation still underway and no charges yet filed.
