A preliminary hearing has been set for a former contracted worker for Alabama's Department of Human Resources charged with leaving a 3-year-old boy in a hot car in Birmingham, which resulted in his death.

Kela Stanford is charged with being a person for hire responsible for a child under the age of seven and leaving them unattended in a vehicle "in a manner that creates an unreasonable risk of injury or harm," according to a release by District Attorney Danny Carr.

The charge stems from the death of Ke’Torrius Starkes Jr., of Bessemer, who was found in a hot car outside a home on Pine Tree Drive, according to the coroner. The child had been left alone in the car between 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 6:03 p.m.

Stanford bonded out within hours of being arrested. A co

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