BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- The family of a 3-year-old boy who died in a hot car last month hopes to see state-level change come to the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

Birmingham police said Ke’Torrius Starkes Jr. died after being left in a hot car for hours while in DHR custody. A wrongful death lawsuit has now been filed by the family against nine people.

Courtney French, an attorney repressing the Starkes' family, said the DHR workers in charge of Starkes had to protect him from abuse and neglect. French said they failed.

"Nothing can bring KJ back, but this family deserves answers, they deserve closure," French said. "They deserve and the community deserves that this never happens again.”

Of the nine people named in the wrongful death lawsuit, six are Jefferson County DHR emp

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