3-year-old dies in the care of child services after being taken from his family
A three-year-old Alabama boy who was taken from his family by the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) died last week after being left in a hot car by one of their workers.
On July 22nd, a DHR contracted worker picked three-year-old Ke’Torrius “KJ” Starks Jr. from his daycare and transported him to a supervised visit with his biological father. When the visit ended, the worker placed KJ in the car. Instead of returning him to the daycare, the worker ran several errands for tobacco, food, and groceries, and then went home. KJ was left in the vehicle for five hours as outside temperatures soared to over 100°F, likely causing a fatal 150°F temperature inside the car.
“This is a parent’s worst nightmare,” the child’s parents said in a statement, quoted by the New York Post. “Our baby should be alive.”
It has not been disclosed why KJ was separated from his family.
“The provider has terminated their employee. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances,” the DHR said.
Courtney French, a lawyer for KJ’s family, said: “This is a heartbreaking and preventable tragedy. With the current extreme outside temperatures and the heat index of 108 degrees, the interior temperature of the car where KJ was trapped likely exceeded 150 degrees.”
CPS operations
State child protective services investigate the family lives of an estimated 3.1 million children, or 1 in 20 American kids each year. They have often come under fire for accusing parents of acts that don’t merit losing their children. Child protective services (CPS) agencies have been known to investigate parents who refuse to subject their children to “gender-affirming care,” medical procedures that permanently mutilate children in the name of gender ideology.
Other pretexts for seizing children from their parents include refusal to vaccinate, as in the case of two Massachusetts parents in April. The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) investigated Isael Rivera and Ruth Encarnacion after they declined to vaccinate their healthy child. When they fled the state to avoid the investigation, they were arrested and charged with kidnapping.
Parents who are under investigation by CPS are typically not afforded constitutional rights, reports ProPublica.
