Clayton County couple sues doctor for allegedly posting autopsy videos of decapitated baby online

RIVERDALE, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A Clayton County couple has filed a lawsuit against an Atlanta doctor who allegedly posted videos of the autopsy of their baby on social media.

The baby’s head had been separated from its body during the childbirth process.

“After suffering one of the most heartbreaking losses any family could ever endure, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Jr. had salt poured into their unfathomable emotional wounds when they discovered that video of their baby’s very graphic medical examination had been made public by the very doctor they entrusted to conduct the autopsy,” said attorneys of Ross and Taylor.

The couple filed the lawsuit on Sept. 1 against Dr. Jackson Gates and Gates Rapid Diagnostic Laboratory of Atlanta alleging invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and fraud.

According to the lawsuit, Ross paid Gates $2,500 on July 12 for the private autopsy.

The lawsuit claims that on July 14, Gates uploaded a video of the autopsy on his public social media page.

“This video showed in graphic and grisly detail a postmortem examination of the decapitated, severed head of Baby Isaiah,” the lawsuit states.

Gates removed the video before posting two more videos on July 21, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that the couple never gave permission to Gates to record the autopsy or publish any images from it.

RELATED: Clayton County funeral home blows whistle after receiving decapitated baby

Atlanta News First reached out to Gates on Tuesday. Gates confirmed he posted images of the decapitated baby on his Instagram page.

“I only showed a picture of the baby’s face and addressed the issue. I did not divulge any information of the baby’s identity or divulge anything about the family,” Gates said in a phone interview with Atlanta News First on Tuesday.

He said he removed the images from his page when he got a cease-and-desist notice from the family.

Gates said he started hearing complaints from the public when the story of the baby’s tragic death gained national attention.

“I will never, I understand the law not to divulge a patient’s private confidentiality, any information, including the deceased,” said Gates.

He said he posts medical videos on his social media to help educate the public about the “barbarism” in medicine.

In a statement on his public Instagram page, Gates detailed the shock of being asked to perform an autopsy on the decapitated baby.

“I cried and prayed because I had never seen anything like this,” Gates wrote.

After they learned of the baby’s death, the Clayton County Medical Examiner notified the Georgia Composite Medical Board and requested they investigate all doctors involved.

The Georgia Composite Medical Board oversees doctors in the state.

On Tuesday, Atlanta News First confirmed the Clayton County Medical Examiner specifically requested the state look into Gates’ actions.