The death of a decapitated baby during childbirth is a homicide: a medical examination

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ATLANTA – The medical examiner has ruled the death of a Georgia couple's baby, whose head was severed during childbirth, a homicide, their attorneys said Wednesday.

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The parents of Treveon Taylor Jr. are suing the hospital and the doctor who delivered the baby in July. Neither admitted wrongdoing.

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The Clayton County Medical Examiner's Office found the infant's immediate cause of death to be a broken neck and ruled that human action was to blame, according to an office statement released by attorneys at a press conference Wednesday.

The boy's parents, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor, say senior doctor Tracy St. Julian delayed surgery and failed to seek help quickly enough when the baby became stuck during labor. Instead, he says he used excessive force on the boy's head and neck.

Their attorney, Roderick Edmond, who is also a doctor, said Wednesday: “It's clearly objectionable.” “No reliable, reasonably competent midwife should ever do this.”

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St. Julian's lawyers said they reject the suggestion that the baby's injuries were fatal.

“Unfortunately, this rare outcome has been reported in the medical literature and may have occurred in the absence of any physician malpractice,” they said.

One of the attorneys, Scott Bailey, said in a September filing that the doctor used “every reasonable technique a reasonable midwife would use” to deliver the baby when the baby was slung over his shoulder.

Bailey's plea also said the baby's head and neck injuries occurred after she died, during an attempt to deliver the fetus by C-section and save Ross's life. He accused lawyers for Mr Ross and Mr Taylor of making “false public representations” to the contrary.

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The hospital where the baby was born, Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, Georgia, also said the baby died in utero.

The hospital denied negligence in a November lawsuit, and spokeswoman Melinda Fulks said she could not comment Wednesday because of the lawsuit.

Clayton County police are investigating the case with the possibility of referral to prosecutors, the medical examiner's office said in a Jan. 6 news release.

Clayton Police Maj. Frank Thomas said in an email Wednesday that the case remains under investigation. The department does not comment on the details of active cases, he said.

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