Decapitation of Child During Delivery: It's Homicide-Medical Examiner

Attorneys to a Georgian, US, couple whose baby was decapsitated during delivery announced Wednesday, that the action has been classified as a homicide by the medical examiner. 

The couple, parents of Treveon Taylor, sued the hospital and doctor who handled the delivery in July, 2023, even though both denied any wrongdoing. 

Despite denial of wrongdoing, Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office has declared that a broken neck is the immediate cause of the baby’s death.

The statement, distributed by attorneys at a news conference on Wednesday, added more emphatically that human action was to blame for the death of the infant.

The victim's parents pointed out that Dr Tracey St Julian, who precided over the delivery, delayed a surgical procedure and also failed to seek help quickly enough when the baby got stuck while being delivered.

They explained that instead, he applied excessive force to the baby’s head and neck.

“This is something that is clearly contraindicated,” attorney Roderick Edmond, who doubles as a physician, said. 

“No credible, no reasonably competent obstetrician should ever do this," he added. 

But St Julian attorney said they are rejecting the finding that the baby’s injury happened before death.

“Although tragic, that rare outcome has been reported in the medical literature and can happen in the absence of any wrongdoing by the physician, which is the case here,” they said.