JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. —

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Jefferson County, Alabama Circuit Court on behalf of the Estate of three-year-old Ke'Torrius "KJ" Starkes Jr.

He died on July 22, 2025 , after being left for hours in a hot car.

Nine defendants are named , including a number of employees at the Department of Human Resources and the contract worker charged in the case Kela Stanford.

KJ was in DHR custody when this happened and Stanford was contracted by DHR through Covenant Services.

Stanford picked KJ up from daycare at about 9 a.m. for a supervised visit with his father at the Bessemer DHR Office, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states the visit ended at 11:30 a.m. but, instead of returning KJ to daycare, Stanford ran multiple personal errands with KJ buckle

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