June 21, 2025
Jessica Ross and Treveon Taylor are the parents of a baby who was decapitated during delivery and whose autopsy was later posted on social media without their consent.
A Fulton County jury has awarded $2.25 million to the grieving parents of a baby who was decapitated during a traumatic delivery and whose autopsy was later shared online without their permission. Treveon Taylor and Jessica Ross, the parents of Baby Isaiah, will receive $2 million in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages following their lawsuit against Dr. Jackson Gates and Medical Diagnostic Choices in Atlanta.
As reported by NBC News, Gates, a pathologist, had been hired by Ross and Taylor on July 12, 2023, to perform a private autopsy two days after the baby’s death.
Despite never receiving permission to publicly share images of the procedure, Gates posted graphic videos of the autopsy to his Instagram account, according to court documents.
The lawsuit accused Gates of invasion of privacy, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“After the decapitation of their baby, Gates poured salt into the couple’s already deep wounds when he betrayed them,” the family’s attorneys said in a statement.
“While we are pleased that a jury punished Dr. Jackson Gates for his reprehensible behavior, nothing can ease the pain that the parents, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Sr., have experienced in losing their baby boy in such a horrific way.”
The videos posted online allegedly showed “in graphic and grisly detail” images of the baby’s severed head and body.
According to the lawsuit, Gates has a history of sharing autopsy content on social media, and he defended his actions in a March 2024 interview, stating, “I have not violated HIPAA. It is not required by a physician to get consent to report a crime or some sort of health issue to the public.”
Taylor and Ross issued a cease-and-desist letter in August 2023 and filed their lawsuit a month later.
Ross and Taylor have also filed a separate lawsuit against Southern Regional Medical Center and obstetrician Dr. Tracey St. Julian.
The suit claims excessive force was used during delivery, leading to Isaiah’s decapitation.
As previously reported, Ross had requested a C-section while the baby was still viable, but was allegedly told to continue pushing for three hours before an emergency C-section was performed too late.
The Clayton County Medical Examiner ruled the baby’s death a homicide in February 2024, citing cervical spinal fractures caused by “actions of another person.”
Southern Regional and St. Julian have denied wrongdoing and did not respond to recent requests for comment.
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