An infant died Sunday morning after co-sleeping with parents at an apartment complex in southeast Fort Worth, according to police. Officers responded to a home along Stalcup Road just before 8 a.m. after the parents woke up and found the baby unresponsive.
Fort Worth police confirmed the death to WFAA, which reported a large police presence at the Buttercup Place Apartments as investigators worked the scene. As reported by CBS Texas, the parents were co-sleeping with the infant and discovered the child unresponsive after waking up. The complex sits near East Berry Street and Loop 820, just west of Lake Arlington, per the same report.
Investigators believe the infant was co-sleeping with the parents when the child became unresponsive, and officials said there were no obvious signs of trauma to the baby, the outlet's report notes. The Fort Worth Police Child Abuse and Child Unit is now leading the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death, while the Tarrant County Medical Examiner was also among those present at the residence, according to the same account.
A Pattern Seen Across North Texas Hospitals
The Fort Worth case echoes a broader trend documented at a local children's hospital. Cook Children's Medical Center recorded 30 infant deaths linked to unsafe sleeping situations over a 15-month period, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle. A separate account from Parent Herald described the same hospital recording 30 infant deaths tied to unsafe sleeping conditions since January 2022, using a different time frame than the Record-Chronicle's figure. Both reports agree that a majority of those deaths involved co-sleeping with at least one parent or caregiver.
Nationally, about 3,500 babies die from sleep-related complications each year, according to the CDC estimate cited by the Denton Record-Chronicle. That same report noted that 2019 CDC data showed Black infants died at more than twice the rate of white and Hispanic infants. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants from birth through 12 months sleep in their own bassinet or crib with only a fitted sheet, the outlet added.
Child Safety Advocates Point to Co-Sleeping as a Recurring Risk
The dangers extend beyond North Texas. A Texas Child Protective Services child safety specialist told KSAT that the most common fatalities among children under age four involved co-sleeping deaths, when parents share a bed with a newborn, along with drownings.
A near-miss case in Jonesboro, Arkansas, illustrates how quickly co-sleeping can turn dangerous even without a fatal outcome. An infant there was nearly strangled when his mother's hair became wrapped around his neck while they were sleeping together, according to KWCH. The mother awoke after feeling her hair being pulled and hearing her 1-year-old son scream, and a household member used a knife to cut the hair from the infant's neck, the station reported.
Back in Fort Worth, the investigation into Sunday's death remains active, with the Child Abuse and Child Unit continuing to examine the circumstances alongside the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office.
