An Alabama contract employee was arrested and criminally charged in connection to the dying of a toddler who was left for hours inside a sizzling automobile, prosecutors stated Friday.
Kela Stanford, 54, is accused of 1 rely of leaving a baby or an incapacitated individual unattended in a motorized vehicle leading to critical bodily harm, based on the Jefferson County District Legal professional’s Workplace.
If convicted, Stanford might face between two and 20 years in jail.
“This can be a horrible tragedy that was utterly avoidable and pointless,” based on an announcement. from the DA.
Ke’Terrious Starkes Jr., a 3-year-old from Bessemer, was pronounced lifeless July 22 after he was present in a automobile within the 1500 block of Pine Tree Drive in Birmingham, metropolis police stated.
Ke’Terrious was within the foster care system and had been picked up from day care by a contract worker of the state Division of Human Assets for a scheduled go to along with his father, officers stated.
After that go to, Ke’Terrious was alleged to be pushed again to day care however ended up on the suspect’s house and left contained in the automobile, police stated.
Police have informed the boy’s household that he was in that automobile for 5 hours, the kid’s aunt Brittney Debruce stated this week.
Stanford had frequently pushed the boy to and from scheduled, supervised visits, so there ought to have been no confusion, based on Debruce.
It wasn’t instantly clear Friday afternoon if Stanford had employed a protection lawyer to talk on her behalf.
She was booked into custody Friday morning earlier than posting a $30,000 bond for launch, jail data confirmed. Stanford didn’t instantly return a message left on her publicly listed cellphone quantity Friday afternoon.
