Death of Georgia baby decapitated during delivery ruled a homicide: Officials

The death of a newborn who was decapitated during delivery at a Georgia hospital last year has been ruled a homicide, the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

The medical examiner's office announced in a press release on Tuesday that it completed its investigation into the death of Treveon Taylor Jr. and found that it was the result of the “actions of another person."

In August, Jessica Ross, 20, and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., 21, filed a lawsuit against Dr. Tracey St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia where Ross had gone into labor on July 9, alleging gross negligence, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The lawsuit said the baby got stuck during delivery, but St. Julian slowed a surgical procedure and failed to seek help quickly. The infant's family alleged that the doctor applied “ridiculously excessive force” on the baby’s head and neck to try to deliver it, Roderick Edmond, an attorney for the family and a physician, said.

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The medical examiner's office said the immediate cause of death was a “fracture dislocation with complete transection (to the) upper cervical spine and spinal cord," due to shoulder dystocia, arrest of labor and fetal entrapment in the birth canal.

Pregnancy-induced diabetes and premature rupture of membranes also contributed to the newborn's death.

Edmond, a nationwide medical malpractice lawyer based in Atlanta, said the couple asked for a cesarean section earlier, at a time when the child could have lived, but according to the lawsuit it would be nearly three hours before St. Julian would perform one on Ross.

By then, a fetal monitor showed the baby's heartbeat had stopped.

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Hospital refused to let parents hold child, couple claims

According to Edmond, the cesarean section removed the baby's legs and body, but the head had been delivered vaginally.

“When they wrapped the baby up tightly, they propped the baby’s head on top of the blanket to make it appear like the head was attached when it wasn’t,” Edmond told reporters at a press conference in August.

According to the lawsuit, the hospital did not tell the couple that the baby had been decapitated and refused to let them hold him.

In August, Southern Regional Medical Center Spokesperson Kimberly Golden-Benner told USA TODAY the hospital could not comment on pending litigation but "denies the allegations" against it.

"Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the family and all those impacted by this tragic event," the hospital released in a statement. "Our prayers also remain with the dedicated team of physicians, nurses and staff at Southern Regional Medical Center who cared for this patient."

Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund