Kela Stanford, the Alabama DHR contracted transport driver charged in the tragic death of 3-year-old Ketorrious “KJ” Starks Jr., failed to show up for her first scheduled court appearance on Monday.

According to WBRC, Stanford was set to appear before a judge after being formally charged under Alabama Code Section 13A-11-290, a Class B felony, for leaving a child under 7 unattended in a vehicle under conditions that posed an unreasonable risk of harm. Little KJ, a child placed in DHR custody, died after being left inside a hot van for more than five hours. But when it came time to face the consequences, the woman responsible simply didn’t show up.

This isn’t just a missed court date. It is a reflection of a larger issue: an entire system that excuses its own. The court’s stated if she misses the next court date a warrant could be issued for her arrest.

Had this been a parent, a bench warrant would have been issued within hours. That’s if the parent would have even been granted bond in the first place.

But for Kela Stanford? Silence. The very system that failed to protect KJ is now failing to hold itself accountable.

This culture of evasion runs deep inside the Department of Human Resources. Workers commit devastating acts of negligence. Families are shattered. Children die. And still, the system shields its own. Parents, on the other hand, are arrested on sight, plastered across headlines, and stripped of their children for far less.

We cannot allow this to be the norm.

The family of KJ and the public at large deserve answers. They deserve justice. They deserve a system that holds everyone accountable, not just the poor, the voiceless, or the already marginalized.

Show up, Kela Stanford. The world is watching.