Fort Mitchell boy fatally struck after mother’s boyfriend forced child out of car, sheriff says
A Fort Mitchell, Alabama, woman’s boyfriend is facing a murder charge for making her “unruly” 5-year-old son get out of his car in the rain Sunday night before the child was hit by another vehicle on Alabama Highway 165.
The child, Austin Birdseye, died from his injuries at Piedmont Columbus Regional.
In an online news conference Monday afternoon, Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor said investigators have a warrant charging 35-year-old Bryan Starr with murder because of his reckless disregard for the boy’s safety.
Starr is the longtime boyfriend of Austin’s mother, Christina Birdseye, 33, and the two share a home on Utah Street in Fort Mitchell, about two miles from where the boy was hit, Taylor said. The mother was not in the car with Starr and her son.
Starr is an active-duty soldier at Fort Benning, the sheriff said.
Starr told investigators that Austin began acting “unruly” in his car as they traveled on the highway near Russell County Road 24, so Starr pulled his Dodge Charger into a church parking lot and made the boy get out in the rain, Taylor said. Starr said he afterward lost sight of the boy, and soon noticed cars stopped on the highway.
That’s where Austin had been hit by an oncoming vehicle, a Toyota Avalon. The road is not well lit there, and the darkness and the rain made the small child hard to see, Taylor said. The driver who hit Austin was not at fault, he said.
“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,” Taylor said.
The incident was reported around 8 p.m. The church where Starr pulled over was the St. John’s AME Church at 944 Alabama 165, and it may have surveillance video that shows what happened there, Taylor said.
State troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency will conduct the accident investigation as the sheriff’s office handles the murder case, he said.
The sheriff found Starr’s conduct inconceivable.
“”What do you say to that? What is your thought process when you tell a 5-year-old to get out of the car on a rainy night, because they were being loud in the car?” he said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”
Taylor said Starr will be released on bond, after he’s processed through the jail, and will have a court hearing later.
Alabama law says someone can be charged with murder if, “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, he or she recklessly engages 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.”
A statement Monday evening from Fort Benning spokesman Ben Garrett said Starr has turned himself in.
The statement said Starr is a sergeant first class from Marengo, Illinois, with 17 years of service, including a combat deployment to Iraq. He’s assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 16th Cavalry Regiment, 316th Cavalry Brigade, Garrett wrote.
Starr’s previous assignments include the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Knox, Kentucky; and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
The post is cooperating with officers investigating the incident, Garrett said. “We are deeply saddened by this tragic event and extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased,” he wrote.
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 2:35 PM.