Ali and Trent Youngling met on a dating app and built a happy life together in Charlotte with their “fur babies,” as Ali affectionately called them. Emmie was a rescue mutt and Oliver a Morkie, a mix of Maltese and Yorkie. They were small dogs with sweet dispositions. Oliver weighed all of 18 pounds, and Emmie weighed even less.
In February 2023, Ali and Trent married and learned just 10 days after their wedding that they were expecting a baby. Ali’s love for research and planning kicked in. She devoured books about pregnancy and signed up for classes on infant care, including Novant Health’s virtual infant CPR class.
“My husband and I had teddy bears on our living room floor during the Zoom call and were going through all the motions of what to do if there was choking or unconsciousness,” Ali recalled. Her parents took the class at the same time, so the extended family rescued teddy bears together. “Never in a million years” did Ali think she would ever need to employ what she learned that day.
Only months later, Ali frantically used CPR combined with rescue breathing on her baby daughter, Addison. Addie had stopped breathing from a danger no one anticipated: Oliver the Morkie wanted to snuggle.
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“What have I done?”
Ali continued working as a mortgage lender during her pregnancy and had a “very joyful, easy delivery” at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte. Addie was healthy and grew well each month. The dogs didn’t love the idea of the baby at first and barked when she cried. Gradually, the couple introduced Addie to them and picked up her hand to pet them. After a month the dogs were comfortable with this new member of the pack.
The baby was four months old in April on what began as a fun afternoon. Ali played with and cuddled Addie on the couch. When Addie fell asleep, Ali, like most moms, saw the baby’s nap time as a chance to get some quick chores done.
The family was planning a trip, and Ali needed to pack the car’s trunk. Trent wasn’t home. But Ali knew she would be gone from the living room only a minute at a time as she carried things to the car and came back for more. The baby dozed in a “sleeping suit” surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped pillow to prevent her from rolling off the couch.
All was fine for the first few minutes. But when Ali peeked into the living room to check on Addie again, this time Oliver was draped across Addie’s face and smothering her.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Ali heard herself scream. She ripped Oliver off the baby. Half of Addie’s face was a deep blue. The other half was pale white. Ali thought, “What have I done?”
Ali picked up her daughter. The baby’s head flopped back. Addie wasn’t breathing.