A medical examiner’s office on Tuesday said that homicide was the manner of death for a Georgia baby who was decapitated during delivery, months after the boy’s parents claimed in a lawsuit that their hospital and doctor tried to cover up what happened.
Jessica Ross and boyfriend Treveon Isaiah Taylor filed the suit in August against Dr. Tracey St. Julian, the OB-GYN who delivered their baby in July at Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale. The parents accused her of failing to follow proper protocol during childbirth, saying that this resulted in the death of their baby.
In a press release shared with HuffPost, the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office said it determined that the baby’s death was a homicide, though the office did not accuse St. Julian of intentionally killing the baby. The baby’s head was severed in part due to shoulder dystocia , the release stated.
The medical examiner’s office added that pregnancy-induced diabetes and premature rupture of membranes were other significant conditions that contributed to the baby’s death.