CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The mother of a baby who was decapitated during delivery broke down in tears as lawyers held a news conference Wednesday and described his injuries.
The news conference followed an announcement Tuesday that the baby’s death has been ruled a homicide.
“We just want justice for our son. They lied to us. They wouldn’t let us touch him. We didn’t like it,” the baby’s father, Treveon Isaiah Taylor, said. “We just want justice for our son.”
Jessica Ross, 20, went into labor with her son, Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Jr., on July 9, 2022, at Southern Regional Medical Center in Clayton County.
According to a lawsuit, the baby became stuck about 10 hours into Ross’ labor and was eventually decapitated when the family’s doctor attempted for hours to pull him out.
The family is suing the doctor who delivered the baby, Tracey St. Julian, her OBGYN practice, the nurses and doctors involved in the birth and the hospital, citing medical negligence and the wrongful death of the baby.
The lawsuit claims doctors “pulled on the baby’s head and neck so hard and manipulated them so hard, that the bones in the baby’s skull, head and neck were broken.”
The hospital initially claimed that the baby died due to complications of shoulder dystocia, which is when the baby’s shoulders get stuck in the birth canal.
According to the medical examiner’s report, the baby’s death was caused by the “fracture-dislocation” of his upper cervical spine and spinal cord.
“The cause of the death again was the baby’s neck was broken while Dr. St. Julian applied excessive pressure on the baby’s neck in the face of the shoulder dystocia,” lawyers said Wednesday.
Lawyers said that during shoulder dystocia, there are various maneuvers doctors are supposed to perform to free the baby that they say St. Julian and others involved in the delivery did not perform. If those maneuvers don’t work, the standard protocol is to move to a C-section.
Lawyers said the way that the hospital attempted to cover up the baby’s condition was just as egregious as his death.
Lawyers said Ross and Taylor asked to see and hold their son after his death and were told that they were not allowed to.
“It is normal, natural, proper and right for parents, after the baby is deceased to say, ‘I want to see my baby. I want to hold my baby. I want to touch the baby’s fingers,’” the family’s lawyer said. “The staff of Southern Regional Medical Center lied and said, ‘You cannot touch your baby.’”
When Ross and Taylor didn’t accept that response, the hospital arranged for them to see the baby through a glass window and propped his head up on his body, according to lawyers.
According to lawyers, they also requested a county-provided autopsy but were told the free service wasn’t available to them. Lawyers argued that was meant to push the couple toward cremation to cover up the evidence.