‘This is not right’: Ga. funeral home speaks out on decapitated baby

RIVERDALE, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Sylvania Watkins knew something wasn’t right when he received a decapitated baby at his funeral home.

“I just felt a sense of urgency to say, ‘Hey listen, this is not right, this is not right.’ Never seen it before,” said Watkins, general manager of the Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home.

Watkins found it peculiar to receive a decapitated baby from a hospital.

“With the body and the head being detached, we should have retrieved this body from the coroner’s office. When that did not happen, that’s when I said we need to reach out and back up and do it right,” said Watkins.

Watkins first called the family of the baby.

In a conversation with the baby’s grandmother, Watkins said he immediately knew that the family did not know the baby’s head was detached from his body.

“They didn’t know. They did not know,” said Watkins.

“And to see the pain and the anguish as if like what really just happened, your heart goes out to them,” he said.

On Wednesday, the family’s attorneys, while announcing a lawsuit against the hospital and medical staff involved in the birth, also said that the family was notified of the baby’s state by the funeral home, and not the hospital.

Watkins then called the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office which sent an investigator to the funeral home to begin a probe into what happened during and following the birth.

“I can never recall a time that we have received a phone call from a funeral home saying we need to report this type of death,” said Brian Byars, Director of the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office.

ORIGINAL: Baby decapitated during birth at Riverdale hospital, lawsuit alleges

Byars said they notified the Georgia Composite Medical Board of the incident and requested they investigate three doctors’ roles in the incident.

The Georgia Composite Medical Board oversees doctors in the state.

The Medical Examiner’s Office also requested assistance from the Secretary of State’s Office, which oversees the conduct of nurses statewide.

Byars said the Clayton County Police Department and GBI are also investigating the circumstances around the boy’s death.

“You have so many people looking at this from so many different angles that are completely independent from each other. I have no doubt the truth will come out, and the public should rest assured they will get an honest answer and an honest review of what happened,” Byars said.

In Georgia, Black infants are more than twice as likely to die during birth, compared to White infants.

According to 2022 state data, there were 12.2 Black infants deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 5.4 White infant deaths, per 1,000 live births.

“When we see systemic issues like that. This is a culture problem,” said Kimberly Seals Allers, a maternal and infant health advocate.

“And these are the things that need to be rooted out not just at this particular facility but out of healthcare providers who have grown to dehumanize us and our infants,” said Allers, in an interview with Atlanta News First on Friday.

Seals Allers is the founder of Irth App, which markets to s to provide prenatal, birthing, postpartum and pediatric reviews of care from other Black and brown women.

Seals Allers said she hopes this information helps inform women about safe healthcare options. She said she also works with hospital systems to improve their care and treatment.

In the latest statement from Southern Regional Medical Center, where the baby was delivered, a spokesperson refuted claims in the family’s lawsuit:

“As our deepest sympathies remain with the family, Southern Regional Medical Center denies the allegations of wrongdoing in the Complaint referencing the hospital. Due to patient privacy laws and HIPAA, we are unable to discuss the care and treatment of specific patients, but we can state this unfortunate infant death occurred in utero prior to the delivery and decapitation. The hospital voluntarily reported the death to the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office and is cooperating with all investigations. Since this matter is in litigation, we cannot provide additional statements.”

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