With reporting from AL.com

A 3-year-old boy in Alabama died Tuesday after being left in a hot car for nearly five hours while under state supervision.

Keterrious Starks Jr., a child in DHR custody, was found unresponsive in a vehicle parked in the driveway of a private residence on Pine Tree Drive in Birmingham. According to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, the vehicle was off, the windows were rolled up, and Keterrious had been inside from approximately 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 6:03 p.m.

His aunt, Brittney Debruce, told AL.com that Keterrious lived in a foster home. On the day of his death, a contracted transport driver reportedly picked him up from daycare to attend a supervised visit with his father at the DHR office in Bessemer. After the visit, he was never returned to daycare.

Debruce said it was not until hours later that police discovered him inside the car and notified the family. “We don’t know what’s going on,” she said.

At the time of this writing, DHR had not issued a public statement. The death is under investigation by Birmingham police.

This tragedy has drawn renewed scrutiny to Alabama’s child welfare system. The child was removed from his home and placed in a system meant to protect him. Yet he died while under its care.

Source: Based on original reporting by AL.com