Preston Ordone, known as “Okay Baby” on TikTok, is being honored by his family through song after the toddler’s death.
Preston’s mother Katelynn Ordone took to Instagram on Monday, May 19, to share home videos of her late child, writing, “My dad wrote this beautiful song for Preston. We miss you every second of every day. #prestonforever #okaybaby.”
In the comments, Katelynn and her husband, Jaelan Ordone, received an outpouring of support. In April, Katelynn and Jaelan’s friends shared that the 2-year-old died in a single-vehicle car crash. Both his parents were in the car at the time of the accident and sustained injuries, while Preston’s 7-year-old sister, Paisley, was at school.
The Louisiana State Police confirmed that an investigation was underway, including a routine toxicology test of the driver for analysis. Their statement noted that the driver and front passenger of the vehicle were both “properly restrained.” Preston, however, was “seated in the rear” and “improperly restrained in a child safety seat.”
Katelynn’s father Glen Norris addressed the claims made by the Louisiana State Police where he defended that Preston was properly restrained. It was subsequently reported later this month that Preston’s official cause of death was from “blunt force injuries due to a motor vehicle crash.” The St. Tammany Parish coroner’s office also shared that his death was categorized as accidental.
“For those of you who don’t know, my husband and I suffered severe concussions and have no memory of the accident,” read a lengthy statement from Katelynn on May 14. “There has been a lot of misinformation out there & we want to share the most accurate information we have at this time.”
Katelynn and her husband “hired an independent accident reconstruction expert” to review the incident
“According to the vehicle’s black box data, the vehicle was traveling at 70 mph before decelerating and making a right turn, impacting at approximately 60 mph,” the statement continued. “Preston was properly secured in a two-piece, 360-degree car seat positioned behind the passenger seat.”
While addressing speculation, Katelynn noted that the report confirmed that the car seat base “was properly installed and belted in.” It was another issue with the car seat that she and Jaelen didn’t know about at the time.
“He was removed from the vehicle still securely fastened and brought to the side of the road by bystanders — this occurred before any emergency vehicle arrived at the scene,” read the statement. “Witnesses shared that it appeared to take at least 15 minutes for first responders to arrive, at which point Preston was still secured in his car seat and handed over to them.”
Katelynn continued: “There appears to have been an issue with how the seat attached to the base: the locking pins were stuck in the engaged position, which may have prevented the seat from fully securing to the base. After learning this, we further researched this particular car seat and discovered the issue has been reported by others as well.”
The online personality referred to the accident as a “a medical emergency, which is consistent with the vehicle’s deceleration and steering behavior.”
“We deeply appreciate the continued prayers and support as we navigate this unbearable tragedy. We are grateful for the continued prayers,” she added. “Our only source of strength right now is our faith and the hope we have in God. We can’t imagine walking through this without the assurance of eternal life and then peace that comes from knowing this truth.”
Katelynn has continued to mourn Preston, writing via Instagram one day before Mother’s Day, “There will never be enough words to express my heart ache and how much I miss you but the one thing that gives me peace is knowing that this wasn’t a goodbye, this was a see you later & I can’t wait to see you again baby boy.”
