**WARNING: The details of this story are disturbing and may be graphic for some.
The Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office said they are investigating the death of an infant who was decapitated during childbirth at a metro Atlanta hospital.
Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Jr. died on July 9 at Southern Regional Medical Center, according to a lawsuit filed by the family.
The lawsuit alleges that after 10 hours of labor, the baby got stuck, and that the family’s doctor, Dr. Tracey St. Julian, continued for hours to try to pull the baby out.
According to the lawsuit, doctors “pulled on the baby’s head and neck so hard and manipulated them so hard, that the bones in the baby’s skull, head and neck were broken.”
Hours later, the lawsuit claims that doctors performed a C-section and found the baby decapitated. Instead of telling the couple, the lawsuit says doctors tried to cover up what happened by telling them they didn’t have the right to a free autopsy, encouraging cremation and concealing what happened when they asked to see the child.
“When they wrapped the baby up tightly, they propped the baby’s head on top of the blanket to make it appear like the head was attached when it wasn’t,” attorney Dr. Roderick Edmond said.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln learned that the family did not know the child had been decapitated until his remains were taken to the funeral home. Workers there alerted the child’s parents, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. of the child’s condition and encouraged them to get a private autopsy performed.
Officials with Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home then notified the Clayton County M.E.’s Office.
“We are grateful for their call because the incident had not yet been reported to us,” the M.E.’s office said in a statement Thursday.
The Clayton M.E.’s Office took jurisdiction of the death investigation and contacted the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office to request they also perform an autopsy.
The autopsy was performed on July 14 and is pending review.
The Clayton M.E.’s Office said they have notified the Georgia Composite Medical Board of the incident and requested that they also investigate three doctors’ roles in the baby’s death.
They are also notifying the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office Board of Nursing and are requesting they investigate the nursing staff’s role in the child’s death.
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