Decapitation of child during 'excessively violent' birth ruled murder

The baby's parents, Jessica Ross and Trevon Isaiah Taylor Sr., sued the hospital and the doctor who delivered the baby last year. Photo: Ben Gray

The death of a baby who was beheaded during childbirth last July has been ruled a homicide.

The Georgia Medical Examiner's Office said the death of the boy, identified as Treveon Taylor, was a homicide. Jr., was the direct result of human activity.

The Clayton County Medical Examiner's Office determined that the immediate cause of the boy's death was a fracture of the cervical vertebrae of the spine, known as a broken neck.

The parents, Jessica Ross and Trevon Isaiah Taylor Sr., filed the lawsuit. hospital and the doctor who delivered the baby last year. They also accuse staff of placing the child's head on top of a body wrapped in a blanket to hide the decapitation.

The hospital denies any wrongdoing.

Allegations by the boy's parents In the lawsuit , filed last August against a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia, appears to support the medical examiner's findings.

'They lied to us'

The parents claim that the doctor who delivered the baby, Dr. Tracy St. Julian, who was in private practice and not employed by the hospital, used excessive force on the baby while trying to pull him out. him from the birth canal.

“We just want justice for our son,” Mr. Taylor said at a news conference Wednesday in Atlanta.

“They lied to us, they We don’t allow you to touch it, we didn’t like it.”

The family accused the hospital of lying, saying they were not told their son was beheaded during labor and were not allowed to touch him after the birth.

Ms Ross had a caesarean section to give birth to the baby . the baby's legs and body, but the head was born naturally, according to the parent's lawyer, Dr. Roderick Edmond.

Ms. Ross and Mr. Taylor said they were only informed of the status of death by the funeral home, not by hospital.

Hospital staff reportedly encouraged the couple to cremate the baby without performing an autopsy, Dr. Edmond said, claiming it was a cover-up attempt.

“They wrapped the baby tightly in a blanket , put the baby's head on the blanket,» Mr. Edmond said at a news conference last year, adding that they «essentially pretended there was no decapitation.»

Only As soon as the medical examiner took The boy's body was taken into custody and an autopsy was performed.

The Medical Examiner's Office referred the incident to the police, who are currently investigating.