The parents of a newborn who had been decapitated during birth held a press conference on Wednesday after the Clayton County, Georgia Medical Examiner’s Office declared the baby’s death a homicide.
Dr. Roderick Edmond, one of the family’s attorneys and a medical doctor, pointed particularly to the hospital staff’s alleged attempt to hide the decapitation from the parents.
“It’s diabolical in my mind,” Edmond said. “That they tried to basically force her to get the baby cremated to basically spoil the evidence. That they lied to them saying, ‘You can’t get a free autopsy at the expense of Clayton County.'”
The medical examiner’s office ruled the cause of death as a homicide, with the immediate cause of death listed as a fracture-dislocation with complete transection of the upper cervical spine and spinal cord.
Homicide, in this case, means the death was caused by the actions of another person, and not to be confused as a criminal charge, according to the coroner’s office.
Jessica Ross, 20, the mother of the baby, Treveon Taylor, Jr., was quiet during the entire press conference. When asked by her lawyers if she had any words, Ross burst into tears and was escorted to another room.