The family of 3-year-old Ke’Torrius “K.J.” Starkes Jr. is remembering the little boy as a “joyful,” “brilliant” “happy boy who loved life, who would light up any room that he would enter into.”

The toddler died after he was trapped inside a hot car while in the custody of a worker contracted by the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the state’s child protective services agency, according to the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office and the state Department of Human Resources. The Birmingham Police Department is investigating the death.

K.J. had been left inside a car parked outside a home in Birmingham for several hours during the middle of the day on Tuesday, the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

  • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    If you have ever met an actual cps worker you would know. They don’t take that job for the money. They are asked to work in often horrible circumstances, with thier hands essentially tied behind thier backs. Just imagine taking a child to visit a parent who isn’t allowed to be alone with thier own kid. That often is going to be heartbreaking and insanely stressful.
    Mistakes happen. If the state/community really cared, there would always be at least two workers with a child in custody at any time. And they would be paid better so that the hiring manager could be more choosy about who they hired. Google spends more on redundancy alone to ensure you can always read your email. So don’t blame the person, blame the system the put them in over thier head.

    • StarryPhoenix97@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I don’t care how “tied” your hands are. A child in a hotbox for HOURS is on you. Unless they had been awake for 36 hours straight or something there’s no excuse and even that excuse is weak. You don’t just FORGET that you put a child in a fucking car for hours. Not unless there’s a severe cognitive issue like drug use or exhaustion.