Couple sue doctor who 'posted autopsy photos of baby on social media'

Couple sues doctor who ‘posted autopsy photos of their decapitated baby on social media’ after using too much force during delivery

Filed in Georgia this month, the suit names Dr. Jackson Gates as a defendant, and comes in addition to one filed this past July over the botched July 9 delivery
The first names Southern Regional Medical Center and the OB-GYN who conducted their baby’s delivery as defendants, while the second names Gates
The second suit accuses Gates of taking $2,500 from the couple for the autopsy before posting graphic, identifying videos and photos to his 11,000 followers

A couple who sued a gynecologist for allegedly decapitating their baby during birth have filed suit against a second doctor – an independent pathologist they claim posted graphic images of the infant’s autopsy after the fact.

Filed in Georgia this month, the suit names Dr. Jackson Gates as a defendant, and comes in addition to one filed this past July against Southern Regional Medical Center and the OB-GYN who conducted their baby’s delivery, Dr. Tracey St. Julian.

That suit accused the obstetrician of failing to follow emergency protocols during the July 9 delivery, when the baby boy’s shoulders got stuck in 20-year-old Jessica Ross’s birth canal.

As 20-year-old dad Treveon Isaiah Taylor was forced to watch, Dr. St. Julian continued to try to attempt the child vaginally for hours, before deciding to instead elect for a Cesarean section.

Shortly after, the baby’s body and legs were extracted via the C-section – while his severed head was delivered vaginally. The baby, named Isaiah, did not survive.

Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. – seen here at a news conference in Atlanta last month – sued a gynecologist for allegedly decapitating their baby during birth in July, and are now suing another doctor they claim posted images of the infant’s autopsy after the fact

Filed in Georgia this month, the suit names Dr. Jackson Gates as a defendant, and accuses the pathologist of taking $2,500 for the autopsy before posting identifying videos and photos on Instagram. Gates – who regularly posts online – defended himself in a series of deleted videos

The first suit contends Julian used excessive force that severed the child’s head, while the second accuses Gates of taking $2,500 for the autopsy before posting identifying videos and photos on Instagram.

‘After all of the abuse suffered by this young couple, unfortunately, Dr. Gates continued to perpetuate it, their abuse, by posting both photos and video of their decapitated child on social media,’ family attorney Rod Edmond told FOX 5 Atlanta.

He and others representing the couple proceeded to decry the doctor’s alleged actions, claiming he took advantage of the strange circumstances surrounding the tragedy by posting to his 11,000 followers without his client’s permission.

Gates – who regularly posts videos of his work for public health purposes – was enlisted for the independent autopsy by the couple, who paid him $2,500 in hopes of getting to the bottom of the child’s death.

The next day, on July 14, the pair woke up to Gates recorded videos of the baby’s autopsy and then posted them on his public account for the world to see.

The suit claims: ‘This video showed in graphic and grisly detail a postmortem examination of the decapitated, severed head of Baby Isaiah.’

It further alleges 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.

Subjected to feelings of ‘shock, anger, humiliation and outrage,’ the couple claim to have sent Gates a cease and desist letter on August 10, demanding he take them down.

It was not clear from the contents of the second suit when or if that media was taken down – but Gates this week defended his actions on social media, in a series of videos that have since been taken down, Jackson’s Instagram is currently private.

Dr Tracey St. Julian (pictured) 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

In one of the posts, the pathologists emphatically insists to his followers that he would never disclose the names of his patients.

‘I want you to hear this clearly, I will never divulge the identity or disclose the identity of any live patients or any deceased patients that come for my care,’ Dr. Gates says in a recording of the since-deleted clip.

In the couple’s initial suit, both allege they only found out their baby had been decapitated after being informed by a funeral home four days after the tragedy, on July 13,

It also claims Dr. St. Julian, the hospital, and other staff hid the cause, as they knew they did not follow proper procedures once they realized the baby’s shoulders had become stuck.

It also claims that Dr. St. Julian did not tell Ross and her family about the decapitation when she spoke to them at approximately 5 a.m. on July 10.

The grieving couple has accused the hospital of trying to cover up what happened by discouraging them from getting an autopsy and encouraging them to have their son cremated.

‘They were so excited about the birth of their first child,’ said attorney Cory Lynch. ‘Unfortunately, their dreams and hopes turned into a nightmare that was covered up by Southern Regional Medical Center.’

The suit is asking for Ross and Taylor to be compensated for the suffering and death of their baby boy and the ‘tremendous mental and physical anguish and trauma’ experienced by Ross.

The second complaint, meanwhile, accuses Gates of invasion of privacy and fraud, and seeks unspecified financial damages.

Their attorneys announced the lawsuit against Dr. Tracey St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia, where Ross went on July 9 to have her son. Riverdale is about 13 miles south of Atlanta

The couple’s attorneys said of Gates’ alleged actions: ‘This is one of the most egregious and outrageous cases of “clout chasing” we have ever encountered.’

‘Dr. Jackson Gates attempted to exploit our clients’ horrific loss to boost his own social media profile, without permission of the family.’

The suit added: ‘After suffering one of the most heartbreaking losses any family could ever endure, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Jr. had salt poured into their unfathomable emotional wounds when they discovered that video of their baby’s very graphic medical examination had been made public by the very doctor they entrusted to conduct the autopsy.’

Both suits are currently pending.

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