TikTok and Tragedy: Newborn Dies in Bed with Parents Who ‘Didn’t Get Around’ to Crib

It’s the kind of story that leaves you with a lump in your throat and a hundred questions no one wants to ask. In a quiet Pennsylvania town, what should’ve been a time of joy and late-night feedings has turned into a nightmare for two parents—and a community trying to make sense of the unthinkable.

Ashley Usadel and Travis Smart had just welcomed their newborn into the world. But just a week later, their baby boy was gone.

A Devastating Morning

On the morning of January 5, Ashley woke up in bed next to her newborn and immediately knew something was wrong. He wasn’t moving. He felt cold. The moments that followed were filled with panic, confusion, and a 911 call that no parent ever wants to make.

Despite emergency efforts, the baby couldn’t be revived.

Investigators later learned that Ashley had dozed off while scrolling through TikTok, with the baby lying beside her. Travis, the father, had also been in bed.

There was no crib. No bassinet. Just a soft bed with pillows and blankets—not the kind of place designed to keep a newborn safe.

“We Meant to Set Up the Crib…”

The couple told police they knew they needed to set up a safe sleep space for their baby. They even had a Pack ’n Play at their disposal—offered by a family member—but hadn’t made the time to put it together.

Instead, night after night, they let their baby sleep between them. And even though doctors had warned them not to do that at discharge, they ignored the advice.

Now, they’re being charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.

Why It Hurts So Much

This wasn’t an act of violence. There was no intention to harm. It was a tragic combination of delay, complacency, and misunderstanding the real risks of co-sleeping. But that doesn’t make the outcome any less heartbreaking.

The baby’s official cause of death: positional asphyxia—a preventable condition where an infant’s airway is blocked because of how they’re positioned while sleeping.

The Bigger Conversation: Safe Sleep

Every year, thousands of infants in the U.S. die in their sleep due to unsafe environments—many of them in situations just like this. Parents often think it’s safe “just for one night” or assume that sleeping next to their baby helps protect them.

But experts say that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“There’s no safe way to bed-share with a newborn,” said Dr. Rachel Moon of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “The safest place for a baby to sleep is in a crib or bassinet—alone, on their back, and with nothing in the sleep space but a fitted sheet.”

A Life Gone Too Soon

The parents are now awaiting trial, out on bail. And while the legal system will determine their fate, nothing can undo the loss of that tiny life—one that never got a real chance.

A neighbor who knew the couple described the situation as “heartbreaking and infuriating all at once.”

“It’s one thing to be overwhelmed as a new parent,” she said. “It’s another to ignore the most basic things we know are important—especially when someone told you directly.”

And now, a family is broken, a baby is gone, and a community is left mourning a tragedy that didn’t have to happen.