ATLANTA — Content warning: Some of the allegations mentioned in this report from the lawsuit are graphic.
Heartbreak, devastation and now humiliation fills the hearts of metro Atlanta parents whose moment of welcoming their little bundle of joy turned into horror. The parents are having to re-live the nightmare after trusting a doctor they said exploited them.
In a new lawsuit filed on Sept. 1, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. allege that a pathologist hired to perform an independent autopsy on their baby who died during childbirth shared videos of the examination on social media.
Attorneys for the Riverdale couple said that they felt angry, humiliated and outraged after discovering the videos of their deceased baby online. They allege Dr. Jackson Gates posted the videos without their permission.
In the lawsuit, the video shared on social media was described as "graphic and grisly." It was posted on July 14. For context, the baby died on July 10. The doctor then allegedly removed the first video and posted two more videos of the examination later that month. Lawyers said in a Tuesday news conference that the couple first learned of the videos through followers of the pathologist.
The couple's attorney, Cory Lynch, described the ordeal as "very traumatic" for the couple.
"They have been in counseling to deal with the aftermath," Lynch said. While the couple was present at the press conference last month regarding the initial lawsuit, the couple was not at Tuesday's news conference.
The attorney then filed a cease-and-desist letter on Aug. 10 directing the doctor to remove the videos. Lawyers believe that the doctor used the video for likes and followers. The pathologist told the attorneys that they would not stop posting, lawyers said in the press conference.
On Instagram, Gates said his posts are educational. He added that he never identified the baby. He denied 11Alive's request for an on-camera interview in response to the lawsuit.
"The fact that he doesn’t have any appreciation for how wrong it is, probably explains why he did it," said one of the couple's attorneys in response. "I mean, this is diabolical. There’s something wrong with that. This child got decapitated. This young couple just suffered one of the worst losses any human beings could ever, ever suffer. And they were manipulated by the hospital. And now they’re manipulated again."
This comes after the couple first filed suit against the hospital and obstetrician who helped birth the baby, claiming that during the delivery process, there were complications that led to the baby's death. The couple also alleged that the hospital kept the manner of the baby's death a secret for days.
According to that lawsuit, there were complications during the labor and attorneys claim that the obstetrician applied “ridiculously excessive force” on the baby’s head and neck to try to deliver it, attorney Roderick Edmond, who is also a physician, said. Around three hours passed before the doctor took 20-year-old Ross, the baby's mother, for a C-section, legal documents said.
The baby was then delivered via C-section without its head, attorneys stated previously. The medical examiner's office in Clayton County made referrals to the state's medical and nursing boards recommending an investigation of the doctors and nurses involved in the baby's delivery.
Shortly after the initial lawsuit was announced the hospital released a statement, denying the allegations and stating the doctor mentioned in the lawsuit is "not an employee of the hospital," adding they have "taken the appropriate steps in response to this unfortunate situation." They also clarified that they believe the baby died before it was born. Lawyers said that the evidence will show if this was the truth.
After the botched delivery occurred, that's when the funeral home referred the family to a pathologist. The couple then signed a contract and paid the pathologist $2,500 to perform the private autopsy, according to the suit.
Attorney Roderick Edmond, another representative for the couple, called the pathologist's actions after agreeing to the autopsy "unconscionable."
Attorneys for the couple stated in the suit that the pathologist has a history of posting videos and photos of the examinations on social media of other decedents and claimed the doctor had every intention of posting the videos of the baby, but failed to let the couple know. Despite that, the Riverdale couple decided to trust in the pathologist after the doctor "had a position of trust within the community."
Attorneys representing the Riverdale couple alleged the doctor engaged in fraud, infliction of pain and invasion of privacy.
Editor's note: This story has been updated after 11Alive learned that the Gates posted a public response to the allegations on a public social media account that our station confirmed is owned by Gates.