Austin Birdseye Alabama 5 year old boy killed by passing car after mom’s Fort Benning soldier boyfriend, Bryan Starr forced him out of car as punishment for ‘misbehaving.’
An Alabama man who allegedly forced his girlfriend’s ‘misbehaving’ 5 year old son out of a car on a dark, rainy Sunday night is facing a murder charge after a passing car, struck and killed the child.
Bryan Starr, 35, told police that 5-year-old Austin Birdseye became ‘unruly’ as they traveled along Alabama Highway 165 near Fort Mitchell. Starr pulled his Dodge Charger over into the St. John’s AME Church parking lot at 944 Alabama 165 before demanding the boy get out of the vehicle.
Another driver subsequently hit Austin after the boy made his way onto Highway 165 near County Road 24, at around 8 p.m.
Austin was taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional hospital, where he died from his injuries. Austin was pronounced dead at 8:51 p.m, WITN reported.
Starr during police questioning said he lost track of Austin as he disappeared into the wet darkness and only became aware of the missing boy’s whereabouts after several other cars stopped along the highway, where the boy was struck by an oncoming Toyota Avalon.
Reckless conduct
The driver who struck the boy has not been charged. According to authorities, the driver didn’t see the boy and is devastated over the incident.
‘We have their information, and we’ve spoken to them, and will speak to them again, but at this point, there’s no indication that they had any chance of not hitting the little guy,’ Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor said, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
State law allows anyone to be charged with murder if they ‘recklessly engage in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself or herself, and thereby causes the death of another person,’ the newspaper reported.
Starr, who had been previously deployed to Iraq and is an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia, was charged with murder because of his reckless disregard for the boy’s safety, the sheriff’s office said.
Taylor said it’s unclear how long Austin was out of the car before being hit. He was 2 miles from his home, where he lived with Starr, his mother, Christina Birdseye, and his brother. Authorities said Austin’s mother was not in the vehicle with Starr and her son when the incident happened.
Starr, a sergeant first class from Marengo, Illinois, has been in the military for 17 years. Starr is assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 16th Cavalry Regiment, 316th Cavalry Brigade, according to Fort Benning spokesperson, Ben Garrett.
Starr will be eligible for bond, authorities said.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page has been set up for Austin’s family to help with burial and funeral expenses.
