Alabama authorities are investigating the death of a three-year-old boy who was left in a hot car by a contractor for the state human resources department on July 22, police said.
Ketorrius Starks had been "accidentally left inside of a vehicle" while in the care of a third-party worker contracted by the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the state’s child protective services agency, the Birmingham Police Department told USA TODAY on July 27. Officers received a report of an unresponsive child shortly after 5:30 p.m. local time on July 22.
Authorities discovered Ketorrius inside of a vehicle parked outside of a residence in a Birmingham neighborhood, according to police. The Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced the child dead at the scene.
The child had been left alone in the vehicle between 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., according to the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office. He was pronounced dead at 6:03 p.m., the medical examiner’s office said.
The child was initially identified by the medical examiner’s office as Katerrius Sparks, of Bessemer, Alabama, police said. The chief deputy coroner, Bill Yates, said in a statement to USA TODAY that the medical examiner’s office had received multiple variations of the child's name from his family.
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Yates noted that Ketorrius Starks is the most recent spelling of the child's name provide by his family and their funeral director.
The Birmingham Police Department said it is currently conducting a death investigation. The contract worker, who has not been publicly identified by police, was transported to the police department for questioning and has been cooperative in the investigation, police said.
The Alabama Department of Human Resources confirmed to local media outlets that the child "was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred," adding that the worker had been terminated, according to WVTM 13 and AL.com. The state human resources department did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on July 27.
Reports: Family attorney says contract worker was supposed to return child to day care
The family’s attorney, Courtney French, told AL.com and CNN that the contract worker had picked up Ketorrius from day care at around 9 a.m. on July 22 for a supervised visit with his father. The visit, which ended at about 11:30 a.m., was part of a court-ordered process for the parents to regain their custody of Ketorrius, according to CNN.
After the visit ended, French alleged that the worker made "numerous personal errands" with Ketorrius in the back of their vehicle instead of returning him to day care, CNN and AL.com reported. The worker then returned to their home, leaving Ketorrius in the vehicle for about five hours, according to the news outlets.
In a statement shared by French, according to AL.com, Ketorrius' family called the incident a "parent’s worst nightmare." "Our baby should be alive,” the family added in the statement.
Hot temperatures and humidity were recorded on the day of the incident, according to the National Weather Service's office in Birmingham. The maximum temperature on July 22 reached 96 degrees shortly before 3 p.m., the weather service said in its daily climatological report.
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Contributing: Jeanine Santucci and Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alabama hot car death: Authorities say child dies in state custody
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