Two Alabama legislators are calling for a review of what led to the death of a 3-year-old boy from Bessemer who was in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

Sen. Chris Elliott, a Republican from Baldwin County, said he wants to hear more assurances from Gov. Kay Ivey and DHR that they will examine what happened and how the state can prevent another tragedy.

Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates told AL.com that Ketorrius “KJ” Starks Jr., was left alone in a parked car for five hours in the driveway of a Birmingham home last Tuesday afternoon, with the windows rolled up.

“We owe it to the children in the state to engage on a better level and see if we can figure out how to do better,” Elliott said.

DHR released a statement saying a contractor was transporting the child when the incident happened.

“The provider has terminated their employee,” DHR said. “Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.”

Birmingham police are investigating the death. No charges have been announced.

Elliott said he understands DHR is limited in what it can say about the specific case but said state officials need to ask hard questions about the death of a child in state custody, even though the child was with a contractor.

“It’s not a blame thing,” Elliott said. “It’s just a plea to engage on a little bit more intense level than just simply saying it’s somebody else’s fault. That doesn’t fly for me.”

Rep. Ginny Shaver, a Republican from Cherokee County, who is chair of the Children and Senior Advocacy Committee in the Alabama House, said the process DHR goes through for choosing subcontractors is a result of a lawsuit decades ago.

“Any incident of systematic failure should lead to a review to see what could be done to prevent it from happening in the future,” Shaver said in an email.

“I’m sure there will be a full investigation by law enforcement and DHR. I will be looking to see if anything needs to be done legislatively.

“This horrific tragedy appears to be the unintended gross negligence of one person for which there is no excuse. Unfortunately no policy can prevent human error.”

Courtney French, an attorney for Ketorrius’ family, told AL.com that a DHR-affiliated worker employed through The Covenant Services picked up Ketorrius from daycare at 9 a.m. for a supervised visit with his biological father.

After the visit ended around 11:30 a.m., the worker stopped to pick up food for her family and shopped at a tobacco store, French said.

The worker then returned to her home and left Ketorrius in the parked car for more than five hours.

Elliott, who talked about the situation on “Jeff Poor Show” on FM Talk 106.5 in Mobile, said there are specific questions that need to be asked.

“I think we need to look at why we’re using contractors instead of state employees,” Elliott said. “What are the rules related to these contractors? What are they allowed to do as far as running errands or whatever?

“I mean, I don’t know all the specifics of this case. Don’t pretend to. But what’s going on here? How did we get here?”

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, said she did not know the specifics of what happened with Ketorrius, but said she would like to see a review of what other states are doing to prevent such tragedies.

Figures said one possibility would be a device to remind drivers that they have a child passenger, similar to the alert that keeps them from locking their keys in the vehicle.

In 2013, the Legislature passed a bill, sponsored by Figures, that established criminal penalties for leaving a child under age 7 or an incapacitated adult unattended in a vehicle in a manner that causes unreasonable risk of harm.

That law is called the Amiyah White Act, named after a 2-year-old girl who died after being left in a van in Mobile.

Elliott said DHR, which is responsible for investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect and for overseeing the foster care system, has a difficult job.

“I’m not just throwing rocks here,” Elliott said. “They have got a really, really hard job. They’re usually encountering kids and parents at probably the worst time of their life.”

Elliott said an evaluation of that critical work is in order after the tragic way that Ketorrius lost his life.

“If it’s a funding issue, does the legislature bear some responsibility?” Elliott said. “If it’s a management issue, then let’s talk about that. If it’s how we’re executing the mission of DHR, let’s figure out what we need to do to change it.

“We just can’t say, well, that’s unfortunate, and it’s a contractor’s fault. It’s not the state’s fault and they’ve terminated whoever and we’ll just move on. That’s just not an acceptable answer in my mind.”

Ivey’s office did not immediately respond to questions for this story about DHR’s policies for hiring contractors and what changes might be needed.

Updated at 5:49 p.m. to add comments from Sen. Vivian Davis Figures.