CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The death of a newborn baby decapitated during childbirth has been determined to be a homicide, the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office announced on Tuesday.
Clayton County police said Tuesday that it has completed its investigation into the death of the decapitated newborn and they’ve turned the case over to the district attorney’s office.
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It was last July when Watkins Funeral Home general manager Sylvania Watkins got a call from the family of Jessica Ross after her baby boy, Treveon Taylor Jr., died during childbirth.
“After we retrieved the body from Southern Regional, I was called downstairs to come and see what they had brought back from the hospital and that’s when I noticed the baby’s head was not attached to the body,” Watkins recalled to Channel 2′s Candace McCowan. “This is what raised the red flag, to receive this baby from the hospital with that condition, that was the first red flag. Actually, this baby should’ve come from the medical examiner from the jump, so that’s how I ended up calling the medical examiner to see if it was reported.”
It wasn’t soon after Watkins’ call that the Clayton County Medical Examiner took custody of the baby’s body and the GBI Medical Examiner performed an autopsy.
In a report shared with Channel 2 Action News, the Clayton County Medical Examiner determined the baby’s death was a homicide: saying “the death was caused by the actions of another person.”
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It was last August when the parents of the baby boy, Ross and Treveon Taylor Sr., filed a lawsuit against Southern Regional Medical Center and their OB-GYN, Dr. Tracey St. Julian. The couple accused the hospital and doctor of covering up the decapitation, encouraging a cremation and not allowing them to hold the baby.
Watkins recalls he had to tell the family.
“Having to deal with the mother and father was even more disturbing with them, what had happened and what they were up against,” said Watkins. “You have to ask yourself the question, ‘What happened? How could this happen?’”
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