The couple's son died in July 2023. They are also suing the medical center where he was born, as well as their obstetrician.
A Georgia couple whose baby was decapitated during childbirth was awarded over $2 million in damages by a jury, following a ruling that a pathologist violated their privacy by posting graphic autopsy footage of the child on social media.
Jessica Ross and Traveon Taylor Sr. were awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and an additional $250,000 in punitive damages against the pathologist who posted the video, Dr. Jackson Gates, and his business, Medical Diagnostic Choices in Atlanta, according to NBC News, FOX 5 Atlanta and Atlanta News First.
PEOPLE previously reported that the couple filed the civil suit in September 2023 and claimed Gates intentionally posted images of their deceased infant to Instagram without permission. He was hired to perform an autopsy on the child, who died while Ross was in delivery.
Gates and Medical Diagnostic Choices were found liable for intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and fraud in the civil lawsuit in March 2024.
"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," attorneys for the family told NBC in a statement Wednesday, June 18.
Gates did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. PEOPLE also reached out to Ross and Taylor's attorneys.
In the suit, Ross and Taylor stated that their infant son, named Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Jr., was deceased at the time of his delivery on July 10, 2023. Ross contracted Gates to conduct an autopsy on their son two days later for $2,500, per NBC.
Attorneys for the couple wrote that Gates posted videos and photos in July 2023 showing "in graphic and grisly detail a postmortem examination of the decapitated, severed head of Baby Isaiah" and the baby's body. Ross and Taylor said in the suit that they not did agree to Gates sharing images of the autopsy, NBC reported.
Gates' social media accounts contained footage of other autopsies, and he told NBC in March 2024 that he had not violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) because the law allows physicians to inform the public about safety concerns in health care.
"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," Gates said at the time. "I've been doing this for 15 years, publishing my autopsy cases to explain to the public the victimization of those persons who have died."
Ross also filed a separate lawsuit against Southern Regional Medical Center in Clayton County, Georgia, where she gave birth in 2023.
In that lawsuit, Ross alleged that the staff's negligence during her child's delivery led to "Treveon Isaiah Taylor Jr.'s decapitation and death."
Those documents stated that the baby's shoulders didn't descend "due to shoulder dystocia," a condition that occurs when a baby's shoulders or shoulder get stuck during vaginal delivery, per the Cleveland Clinic.
Attorneys then alleged that attending physician Dr. Tracey St. Julian "negligently applied excessive traction" on the baby's head and the hospital "failed to do a Cesarean section in a timely and proper manner," per CNN.
The baby's body and legs were removed during a subsequent C-section procedure, but the baby's head was delivered vaginally, the Associated Press reported at the time.
The baby, who was the couple's first child, had been delivered full-term. Ross and Taylor also claimed that the staff attempted to talk them out of an autopsy, and it wasn't until they had already been discharged from the hospital that they found out about the decapitation.
When the new parents asked if they could see and hold their newborn, they could only see the baby through a glass window, the family's attorney claimed in February 2024, according to CNN. The baby was reportedly tightly wrapped in a blanket with his head "propped on top of his body" to conceal the fact that he was decapitated, a family spokesperson said.
"They were so excited about the birth of their first child," the couple's attorney, Cory Lynch, previously told AP. "Unfortunately, their dreams and hopes turned into a nightmare that was covered up by Southern Regional Medical Center."
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, the Southern Regional Medical Center previously said, "Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the family and all those impacted by this tragic event. Our prayers also remain with the dedicated team of physicians, nurses and staff at Southern Regional Medical Center who cared for this patient."
In 2024, the Clayton County Medical Examiner's Office medical examiner ruled the baby's death a homicide.