According to NBC a doctor used too much force and decapitated a Georgia woman’s baby during delivery, according to a lawsuit attorneys said was filed Wednesday.
The baby’s mother and father, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., attended a news conference in Atlanta where their attorneys 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 about 13 miles south of Atlanta.
“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.”
Calls to St. Julian’s office went unanswered, and an email message was not immediately returned.
The Associated Press was not able to determine whether she had an attorney.
Southern Regional said in statements it could not discuss treatment for particular patients due to privacy laws, but it denies the allegations against it.
Its “heartfelt thoughts and prayers” were with Ross and Taylor and their care providers, it said.
“Our commitment is to provide compassionate, quality care to every single patient, and this loss is heartbreaking,” the hospital said. It later added that St. Julian was not an employee of the hospital, and it had “taken the appropriate steps in response to this unfortunate situation.”
A spokeswoman, Kimberly Golden-Benner, said the hospital could not elaborate. St. Julian is part of a health care group called Premier Women’s Obgyn that has two locations and offers circumcisions, infertility treatment and other services in addition to low- and high-risk obstetric care, according to its website.
St. Julian is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist who has been practicing in the Atlanta area since January 2005, the website says.
According to the suit, the baby got stuck during delivery, but St. Julian delayed a surgical procedure and failed to seek help quickly.
Instead, she applied “ridiculously excessive force” on the baby’s head and neck to try to deliver it, attorney Roderick Edmond, who is also a physician, said.
Roughly three hours passed before St. Julian took Ross, 20, for a cesarean section, according to the suit. By then, a fetal monitor had stopped registering a heartbeat.
The cesarean section removed the baby’s legs and body, but the head was delivered vaginally, according to Edmond.
The couple asked for a C-section earlier, when the baby still could have survived, but were denied, Edmond said.
He said the case highlighted the higher rates of infant and maternal mortality for Black women.
Ross and Taylor, 21, did not speak at Wednesday’s news conference.
Their attorneys also accused Southern Regional staff of trying to cover up the decapitation by discouraging the couple from getting an autopsy, encouraging them to have their son cremated and wrapping and propping his body to make it appear the head was still attached.
The suit alleges gross negligence, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
It seeks unspecified punitive damages.
This is horrific and the details are graphic. ?
Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. have filed a lawsuit against Dr. Tracey St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, Georgia alleging gross negligence, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional… pic.twitter.com/gxRlAX7Mhr
— Calés McGinnis ✨ (@CalesMcGinnis) August 10, 2023
and
Here is the complaint against #Atlanta Dr. Tracey St. Julian, accused of decapitating a baby during delivery. The details are horrific and heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/LkWmttFVS3
— Favio R. Caminatti, Esq. (@Caminatti) August 10, 2023
and
Dr Tracey St. Julian was suppose to deliver a baby but instead she didn’t follow procedures which led to a baby head being pulled off during delivery. This happened at Southern Regional in Riverdale, GA. pic.twitter.com/HnNCq7vl2j
— Steph??♀️ (@Stephquees) August 10, 2023
and
MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING// homicide
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–I cannot believe… The woman responsible for decapitating a baby during delivery at Southern Regional Medical Center is this one. Dr. Tracey St Julian.
A BLACK woman did this to another black woman.
And TRIED TO HIDE THEIR WRONGDOINGS. ?? pic.twitter.com/9k9P1lTgkn
— Lift Every Voice & SWING ♍️ (@Sha_Elise24) August 10, 2023
and
I hope that Southern Regional and Dr. Tracey St. Julian are sued into the fucking ground. What happened to Mr. Taylor and Ms. Ross is one of the most horrifying things that I have ever read. I hope they are able to find the strength to endure.
— Mesha Mac (@MeeshCapisci) August 10, 2023
and
This is inexcusable for an established licensed professional. Dr. Tracey L. St. Julian, NPI 1306901467, should be criminally prosecuted. Murder? Negligent homicide? Something. My Lord in Heaven this is way too much.
— Overwhelmingly sick of this shit (@Kristallashea) August 10, 2023
and
Dr. Tracey St. Julian is the physician responsible. Shoulder dystocia is a medical emergency!!! Instead of doing the right thing and taking the mother to surgery to safely get the baby out you take matters into your own hands literally murdering a newborn and then cover it up?? https://t.co/RYjXUW4dF6
— Wahu ?? (@jumwa_keren) August 10, 2023
and
A doctor used too much force & decapitated a Georgia woman’s baby during delivery, according to a lawsuit
Hospital staff is also accused of trying to cover it up by discouraging an autopsy & propping his body to make it appear the head was still attached https://t.co/m5Aak7S4N5
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 10, 2023
Horrific!
