RIVERDALE, Ga. — The metro Atlanta hospital where a newborn was decapitated during childbirth last month claims that the baby died in utero prior to the delivery.

Jessica Ross, 20, went into labor with her son, Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Jr. on July 9 at Southern Regional Medical Center.

According to a lawsuit filed by the family, after 10 hours of labor, the baby got stuck and was eventually decapitated by the family’s doctor, who tried for hours to pull the baby out.

The lawsuit claims 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.”

The family has since filed a lawsuit against the doctor who delivered the baby, Tracey St. Julian, her OBGYN practice, the nurses and doctors involved in the birth and the hospital, citing medical negligence and the wrongful death of the baby.

On Thursday, officials with Southern Regional Medical Center issued a statement saying that “this unfortunate infant death occurred in utero prior to the delivery and decapitation,” and said that the doctor who delivered the baby, Tracy St. Julian is not “and never has been” an employee of the hospital.

“The hospital voluntarily reported the death to the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s office and is cooperating with all investigations,” officials from the hospital said.

However, in a statement issued by the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office Thursday, the M.E. claims that the first time they heard about the baby’s decapitation was when the funeral home alerted them.

According to the Clayton M.E.’s office, which is now investigating the infant’s death, workers at Willie A. Watkins funeral home were the first to tell the child’s parents, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., that the baby was decapitated and encouraged them to get a private autopsy performed.

Officials with the funeral home then notified the Clayton County M.E.’s office, they said.

“We are grateful for (the funeral home’s) 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 lawsuit claims that on the day of the birth, the baby didn’t descend through the birth canal due to “shoulder dystocia,” a condition that happens when one or both of a baby’s shoulders get stuck during delivery.

“There is no documentation of any nurse or Dr. St. Julian activating any emergency obstetrical protocol in a timely manner after the shoulder dystocia was recognized,” the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit states that about an hour before the baby was eventually delivered by C-section, fetal heart tones stopped.

According to the lawsuit, doctors actively tried to cover up what had 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.

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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