A couple who sued a gynecologist for decapitating their baby during birth have filed suit against a second doctor. An independent pathologist reportedly posted graphic images of the child’s autopsy afterward.
The lawsuit, filed this month in Georgia, names Dr. Jackson Gates as a defendant, adding to a lawsuit filed last July against Southern Regional Medical Center and the gynecologist who delivered their baby, Dr. Tracey St Julian.
In that lawsuit, the midwife was accused of failing to follow emergency protocols during the July 9 birth when the baby’s shoulders became stuck in 20-year-old Jessica Ross’ birth canal.
While 20-year-old father Treveon Isaiah Taylor was forced to watch, Dr. St. Julian spent hours trying to deliver the child vaginally before deciding to opt for a C-section instead.
Shortly afterwards, the baby’s body and legs were removed by caesarean section, while his severed head was delivered vaginally. The baby, named Isaiah, did not survive.
Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. – seen here at a press conference in Atlanta last month – have sued a gynecologist for allegedly decapitating their baby during birth in July, and are now suing another doctor who they say posted photos of the child’s autopsy afterward
The lawsuit, filed this month in Georgia, names Dr. Jackson Gates as a defendant, accusing the pathologist of receiving $2,500 for the autopsy before posting identifying videos and photos to Instagram. Gates – who regularly posts online – defended himself in a series of deleted videos
The first complaint alleges Julian used excessive force to cut off the child’s head, while the second accuses Gates of receiving $2,500 for the autopsy before posting identifying videos and photos to Instagram.
“After all the abuse this young couple endured, Dr. Gates continued the abuse by posting both photos and videos of their decapitated child on social media,” family attorney Rod Edmond said. FOX5 Atlanta.
He and others representing the couple then moved to denounce the doctor’s alleged actions, claiming he took advantage of the strange circumstances surrounding the tragedy by posting to his 11,000 followers without his client’s permission.
Gates — who regularly posts videos of his work for public health purposes — was called in for the independent autopsy by the couple, who paid him $2,500 in hopes of getting to the bottom of the child’s death.
The next day, July 14, the couple woke up to Gates recording videos of the baby’s autopsy and then posting them to his public account for the whole world to see.
The lawsuit claims, “This video showed in graphic and gruesome detail a post-mortem examination of the decapitated, severed head of baby Isaiah.”
It is further alleged that after the clip was deleted, Gates posted two more videos of the baby’s autopsy exactly a week later – videos that graphically depicted the baby’s head, body, brain, and even organs.
Subjected to feelings of “shock, anger, humiliation and outrage,” the couple claims to have sent Gates a cease and desist letter on August 10, demanding he put them down.
It was not clear from the contents of the second lawsuit when or if that media was removed – but Gates defended his actions on social media this week, in a series of videos that have since been deleted; Jackson’s Instagram is currently private.
“After all the abuse this young couple endured, Dr. Gates continued the abuse by posting both photos and videos of their decapitated child on social media,” said family attorney Rod Edmond (seen left). FOX 5 Atlanta this week
Dr. Tracey St. Julian (pictured) is accused of delaying a caesarean section and not seeking help quickly. Instead, she applied “ridiculously excessive force” to the baby’s head and neck in an attempt to deliver the baby while Ross was still awake.
In one of the posts, the pathologist strongly urges his followers that he would never reveal the names of his patients.
“I want you to hear this clearly, I will never divulge or disclose the identity of living patients or deceased patients who come for my care,” says Dr. Gates in a recording of the since-deleted clip.
In the couple’s first lawsuit, both claim they only found out their baby had been decapitated after being informed by a funeral home four days after the tragedy, on July 13.
It also claims that Dr. St. Julian, the hospital and other staff concealed the cause because they knew they were not following proper procedures when they realized the baby’s shoulders were stuck.
It also claims that Dr. St. Julian did not tell Ross or her family about the beheading when she spoke to them at about 5 a.m. on July 10.
The grieving couple have accused the hospital of trying to cover up the events by discouraging them from having an autopsy and encouraging them to have their son cremated.
“They were so excited about the birth of their first child,” said attorney Cory Lynch. “Unfortunately, their dreams and hopes turned into a nightmare that was covered up by Southern Regional Medical Center.”
The lawsuit seeks compensation from Ross and Taylor for the suffering and death of their infant son and the “tremendous mental and physical anguish and trauma” Ross experienced.
The second complaint, meanwhile, accuses Gates of invasion of privacy and fraud, and seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Their lawyers announced the lawsuit against Dr. Tracey St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia, where Ross went on July 9 to have her son. Riverdale is located approximately 13 miles south of Atlanta
The couple’s lawyers said of Gates’ alleged actions: “This is one of the most egregious and outrageous cases of ‘power chasing’ we have ever encountered.”
‘Dr. Jackson Gates attempted to exploit the horrific loss of our clients to increase his own social media profile, without the family’s consent.”
The lawsuit added: “After suffering one of the most heartbreaking losses any family could ever endure, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Jr. had salt poured into their unfathomable emotional wounds when they discovered that the video of the very explicit medical examination of their baby had been made. made public by the doctor they entrusted to perform the autopsy.”
Both lawsuits are currently pending.