Doctor Posts ‘Graphic and Grisly’ Videos of Decapitated Baby’s Autopsy Online Without Notifying the Parents: Lawsuit

A Georgia family whose baby boy was decapitated during childbirth claims a pathologist charged with investigating the newborn's death posted videos of his autopsy on Instagram.

In a lawsuit filed on Sept. 1, Jessica Ross and her boyfriend, Treveon Isaiah Taylor, said Dr. Jackson Gates, who has about 11,000 followers on the photo-sharing site, had posted videos of their baby's medical exam without their permission, Atlanta's WXIA-TV reported.

Gates allegedly posted one video of the newborn on July 14, four days after the baby's death. He reportedly took down the first video but eventually uploaded two more.

Last month, Ross and Taylor filed a lawsuit against Southern Regional Medical Center, about 13 miles south of Atlanta, arguing that the obstetrician who delivered their baby applied excessive force to his head and neck, which led to the baby's decapitation.

The family's lawyers said they had asked for a C-section early on, but Ross, 20, was only given one three hours after it was too late to save the baby.

Shortly after the baby's death, the hospital denied any wrongdoing and said it believed the boy died before delivery, per WXIA.

Ross and Taylor agreed to pay $2,500 for a private autopsy but were never told that their baby's body might be posted online by the pathologist. They only learned that Gates had shared videos of the exam after some of his followers alerted them to the disturbing content.

Lawyers said they believe Gates used the videos — and others like it — to gain more attention on social media.

But Gates told his Instagram followers that he'd posted the videos only for educational purposes and never identified the baby. He also allegedly labeled each post as "graphic and grisly."

He refused to be interviewed on camera, according to WXIA.

"The fact that he doesn’t have any appreciation for how wrong it is probably explains why he did it," one of the couple's attorneys told the station. "This young couple just suffered one of the worst losses any human being could ever, ever suffer. And they were manipulated by the hospital. And now they’re manipulated again."

The couple is suing Gates for fraud, infliction of pain, and invasion of privacy.