search is underway for a woman who is charged in the abuse/neglect death of her young special needs son.

Birmingham police are searching for Serena Starkey. She is a 43-year-old white female.

The investigation began March 2 when Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service was dispatched to a person down call at the Extended Stay America on Cahaba Park Circle off U.S. 280. It was about 7:30 a.m. that Saturday.

Aston Starkey, a 13-year-old boy with Down’s Syndrome, was rushed to Grandview Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Sgt. LaQuitta Wade said South Precinct officers, as well as homicide detectives, responded to the hospital and launched an unclassified death investigation. Shelby County DHR also launched an investigation.

The preliminary investigation revealed Aston died under suspicious circumstances, Wade said.

On June 6, Shelby County Coroner Lina Evans notified Birmingham police that Aston’s autopsy showed he died as result of malnutrition and dehydration complicated by neglect. The medical examiner’s office ruled the manner of death a homicide.

The murder warrant against Starkey was issued June 7 by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.

Authorities have been searching for the mother since then.

Aston was originally born in Florida. He and his mother moved around frequently, authorities said, and had been living in Birmingham for about a year. Aston was not in school and was rarely, if ever, taken to the doctor, authorities said. They may have previously lived in Montgomery.

Aston is Birmingham’s 67th homicide this year. Of those, seven have been ruled justified.

Anyone with information on Starkey’s whereabouts is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.