Parents receive $2.2 million after doctor posted horrific video of their child's autopsy online
Georgia parents who sued a doctor after he posted autopsy photos of their decapitated baby on social media have been awarded a whopping $2.2 million in damages.
Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. alleged their baby boy, Treveon Isaiah Taylor Jr., was decapitated during childbirth at Southern Regional Medical Center on July 9, 2023.
The couple said they had no idea of their son's condition until they were notified by the funeral home and hired pathologist Dr. Jackson Gates to conduct an autopsy on the newborn.
However, they filed a lawsuit against the pathologist after they paid him $2,500 for the autopsy and discovered he posted identifying videos and photos on Instagram, where he often shares his work for public health purposes.
'This video showed in graphic and grisly detail a postmortem examination of the decapitated, severed head of Baby Isaiah,' court documents said.
The lawsuit stated that after the clip was removed, Gates posted two more videos of the baby's autopsy exactly a week later - ones that graphically depicted the baby's head, body, brain, and even organs.
A judge ruled that Gates was liable for sharing the images on social media in March 2024.
On Wednesday, a jury awarded Ross and Taylor $2.25 million in damages, as reported by Atlanta News First.
'While we are pleased that a jury punished Dr. Jackson Gates for his reprehensible behavior, nothing can ease the pain that the parents, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., have experienced in losing their baby boy in such a horrific way,' the couple's attorneys said.
'After the decapitation of their baby, Gates poured salt into the couple's already deep wounds when he betrayed them.
'This young couple trusted him with the remains of their precious baby. Gates, in turn, repaid this trust by posting horrific images of their child for the world to see.'
Gates's attorney, Ira Livnat, told WSBTV that his client regularly posted autopsy results on social media and had no intention of hurting Ross and Taylor.
'I believe that Dr. Gates believed he was helping. He believed he was helping the plaintiffs uncover what the hospital actually had done,' Livnat said
'He's absolutely heartbroken for what happened to this family. And what he said at trial was, is that if he had known that it would have harmed them, he would have never done it.'
The parents' nightmare began on July 9, 2023, when Ross arrived at the hospital to give birth.
They claim Dr. Tracey St. Julian applied 'ridiculously excessive force' on the baby's head and neck to try to deliver it while Ross was still awake.
Ross began experiencing complications when her baby boy's shoulders got stuck during a vaginal delivery which started at 8.40pm, according to the suit.
Dr. St. Julian is accused of delaying a C-section procedure and failing to seek help quickly.
Instead, she applied 'ridiculously excessive force' on the baby's head and neck to try to deliver it while Ross was still awake, claims attorney and physician Roderick Edmond.
The baby's body and legs were delivered by C-section three-and-a-half hours later at 12.11am, and his head was delivered vaginally.
When Ross and Taylor demanded to see and hold their child, they claim the baby was tightly wrapped in a blanket with his head 'propped on top of his body' to make it appear like it was still attached. They ultimately found out about the decapitation from the funeral home, they claim.
The grieving couple has filed a lawsuit against Ross and the hospital, accusing them trying to cover up what happened by discouraging them from getting an autopsy and encouraging them to have their son cremated.
In February 2024, the Clayton County Medical Examiner's Office baby Isaiah's death was ruled a homicide.
The baby suffered 'fracture dislocation with complete transection (to the) upper cervical spine and spinal cord,' according to an autopsy report.
His death was caused by shoulder dystocia, arrest of labor and fetal entrapment in the birth canal. Pregnancy-induced diabetes and premature rupture of membranes also contributed, per the report.
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