The death of a baby boy, whose parents say he was decapitated during his delivery in July 2023, has been ruled a homicide by the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The baby’s parents had filed a lawsuit last year against Southern Regional Medical Center and the doctor who delivered the baby, alleging negligence and attempts to cover up details of the tragic death.
Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., of Clayton County said in their suit their infant suffered a sudden and rare birth complication known as shoulder dystocia — a life-threatening condition in which one or both of the baby’s shoulders become locked in the mother’s pelvis, preventing it from descending further in the birth canal. According to The Cleveland Clinic, the crisis can cause the baby to suffer from a potentially fatal lack of oxygen as well as fractured collarbones and limbs as the physician tries to free it for delivery.
According to the medical examiner’s report this week, the baby’s death was due to “Shoulder dystocia, arrest of labor, and fetal entrapment in the birth canal.”
The earlier lawsuit and a release from the attorneys for the parents allege the attending physician at the birth Dr. Tracey St. Julian applied excessive force on the baby’s head and neck during the attempted vaginal delivery and as a result, the baby was decapitated.
According to the complaint, the baby’s legs and torso were delivered through the C-section incision without the head. The baby’s head was then delivered vaginally.
The Clayton County Police Department said they are no longer in charge of the investigation. A decision on whether charges could be filed against the doctor who delivered the baby now falls to the District Attorney’s Office.
The original complaint, filed by the parents in August 2023 in state court in Clayton County, seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages.
The parents are represented by attorneys Cory Lynch and Dr. Roderick E. Edmond, who did not immediately comment on the medical examiner’s ruling Tuesday, but said they would hold a press conference on the case Wednesday.
According to the lawsuit and their attorneys, Ross, a hair stylist, and Taylor, who works in hospitality, were preparing to become first-time parents to the boy they had already named Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Jr.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Ross’s amniotic membrane ruptured at about 10 a.m. on July 9. She went to the emergency department that day and a couple of hours later received a drug to help induce labor, according to the lawsuit.
But as the delivery progressed, the baby did not properly descend in the birth canal due to shoulder dystocia. According to the parent’s lawsuit, St. Julian attempted to deliver the baby vaginally using different methods, which included applying traction to the baby’s head.
Lawyers for the parents say there’s no documentation of a nurse or St. Julian “activating any emergency obstetrical protocol in a timely manner after the shoulder dystocia was recognized” nor is there a record that anyone recommended an emergency C-section or seeking help from other medical professionals.
Afterward, when St. Julian spoke with Ross and her family about the death of the baby, she allegedly did not tell them that the baby had been decapitated, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint contends that Ross and Taylor were discouraged from getting an autopsy.
When the lawsuit was filed last year, Southern Regional Medical Center cited privacy laws for not being able to discuss the case but denied any wrongdoing. The hospital issued a statement saying, “this unfortunate infant death occurred in utero prior to the delivery and decapitation.”
The couple’s attorneys said it wasn’t until a funeral home handling the infant’s body informed Ross and Taylor several days later that they learned he had been decapitated. According to the medical examiner’s office, the funeral home contacted the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office because they thought it was unusual that the medical examiner’s office was not already involved.
The parents later hired a private pathologist, Atlanta physician Dr. Jackson L. Gates, to perform a post-mortem examination of the infant’s body. They filed a second lawsuit against Gates, who they say posted graphic video images of their infant son on his Instagram account.
The parents say in their lawsuit that they never gave Gates permission to video-record the postmortem examination and that Gates’ posting caused them “feelings of shock, anger, humiliation and outrage,” and that they “endured mental and emotional pain and suffering.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, shoulder dystocia occurs in 0.6% to 1.4% of babies weighing between 5 pounds, 8 ounces and 8 pounds, 13 ounces at birth. This rate rises to 5% to 9% of babies born weighing more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces.
Increased risk factors include pre-existing or gestational diabetes; macrosomia, babies weighing more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces at birth; the mother’s short stature, abnormal pelvic structure and shoulder dystocia in a previous pregnancy, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
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