It’s been close to seven months since Jessica Ross went into labor at Southern Regional Medical Center in Clayton County expecting to go home with a healthy baby boy. Instead, that time has been filled with grief and pain.
“I want justice for my baby,” Ross said Wednesday.
Ross and her boyfriend, Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., were awaiting the birth of their first child on July 9, but Treveon Jr. did not survive the delivery. “During her delivery, the baby was decapitated,” family attorney Roderick Edmond said.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the infant’s death, the couple said they are still hurt, angry and distraught. Taylor said it was shocking and that he got chills when he found out his son had been decapitated.
“I know he is watching over us,” Taylor said Wednesday in a separate interview after a news conference.
The baby suffered a sudden and rare birth complication known as shoulder dystocia — a life-threatening condition in which one or both shoulders become locked in the mother’s pelvis, preventing it from descending further into the birth canal. According to The Cleveland Clinic, the crisis can cause a 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.
Attorney Cory Lynch said the ordeal has been extremely difficult on the entire family.
“They’ve been strong and resilient with trying to move forward with life and get back to, not normal, but a new normal, given the grief they have sustained,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide and released a report stating the cause of death as a “fracture-dislocation with complete transection” of the upper cervical spine and spinal cord due to shoulder dystocia, arrest of labor and fetal entrapment in the birth canal.
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Edmond clarified Wednesday that the homicide ruling did not mean criminal charges will be filed. The Clayton County District Attorney’s Office, which will have to make that determination, said in a statement that it has not received a file or charges from the Clayton County Police Department regarding the case.
A month after the baby’s death, the family’s attorneys filed a lawsuit against the hospital, Dr. Tracey St. Julian and several nurses and a medical group that delivered the baby, alleging negligence and attempts to cover up details of the death.
At the time, Southern Regional Medical 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 lawsuit and a news release from the attorneys for the parents allege that St. Julian, the attending physician at the birth, 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 then delivered through the C-section incision without the head. The baby’s head was then delivered vaginally.
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Edmond said Wednesday the hospital has not been cooperative in terms of discovery. In a new statement, a hospital official said they could not comment due to pending litigation.
“Just come forward, please. The nurses that were in the room, please come forward. Please,” Ross said through tears.
The attorney said they hope to start depositions soon and plan to depose everyone who was in the delivery room.
“The most offensive aspect of this case deals with the lies and coverup that occurred after the decapitation,” Edmond said.
The couple were not allowed to hold their child and were only allowed to view the baby through a glass window, Edmond said. He said the baby’s body was arranged by hospital staff to make it look like it wasn’t decapitated. He also said they were later encouraged to have the baby cremated and were not offered a free autopsy.
“We just want justice for our son,” Taylor said. “They lied to us. They didn’t let us touch him.”
It wasn’t until several days later, through the funeral home handling the infant’s body, that the couple learned he had been decapitated.
A second lawsuit was filed against Atlanta physician Dr. Jackson L. Gates, who was hired to perform a post-mortem examination. He is accused of posting graphic video images of the infant on his Instagram account. Lynch said Gates has not responded to the lawsuit and that they are seeking a default judgment.
Ross said she doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to fully heal from losing her son.
“It hurts,” she said.
About the Author
