July 24, 2025
Both the biological and foster families of a 3-year-old boy are mourning after he was found dead in a sweltering car outside a child welfare worker’s home.
Police are investigating after a three-year-old boy died after being left inside a hot car while under the care of a private child welfare provider.
Keterrius “KJ”’” Sparks, from Bessemer, Alabama, was found dead inside a hot car parked at a home on the 1500 block of Pine Tree Drive, WBRC reported. Authorities say the 3-year-old was left in the vehicle for about five hours, from roughly 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday, July 22.
At the time of the tragedy, Sparks wasn’t with his biological parents or foster family. He had been left in the vehicle while under the care of Covenant Services, a third-party contractor for Alabama’s Department of Human Resources (DHR). Birmingham Fire and Rescue responded to the scene and pronounced the toddler dead.
“A child in DHR custody was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred,” the Department of Human Resources said in a statement. “The provider has terminated their employee. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.”
Ke’Torrius Sparks Sr. saw his son for the last time during a scheduled visitation at the Bessemer DHR office on Tuesday morning. The grieving father had no idea it would be the final time he held him.
“I mean, words can’t even express how I feel right now,” Sparks said through tears. “As soon as I leave my son, the first thing he says is, ‘Daddy, I want to go with you.’ He says that every time, and it really hurts.”
Covenant Services, a private child welfare provider, was responsible for taking KJ to daycare after his Tuesday visit, but that never happened. When his foster mom came to pick him up later that day, he was missing.
“A heartbreaking and preventable tragedy. Based upon a preliminary investigation, 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,” Attorney Courtney French said.
French said police got a 911 call around 6:40 p.m. about a child found unresponsive in a vehicle parked at a worker’s home. Now, both KJ’s biological and foster families are grieving and demanding answers as to how a child in state care could be left in a car for five hours. Birmingham Police are investigating.
“We went to the theme parks; we had a blast. We went to the swimming pool. We just got back Friday,” said Ernest Miller, a cousin from KJ’s foster family. “We were all looking forward to him growing up and being a part of this family, and now he’s just gone.”
“This is a parent’s worst nightmare. Our baby should be alive,” KJ’s biological parents said.
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