By Paige Cornwell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A woman who says her newborn baby died because she received inadequate medical care while in the Cobb County jail is suing the county and sheriff’s office.
Taylor Hogan says she was 5 1/2 months pregnant when she was jailed on a charge of possession of stolen property in August 2010. On Aug. 10, 2010, Hogan delivered her baby in a bathroom after complaining of severe cramping. The baby, who Hogan named Savante, died nine hours later at a hospital.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, alleges that Hogan received inadequate medical care before and after the baby was born.
“Nobody knows how I feel to not have him with me,” Hogan told Channel 2 Action News. “I’m angry. I hear babies cry in my head. I have flashes.”
In addition to suing the county and sheriff’s office, Hogan is suing WellStar Cobb Hospital, which provides health care services for the jail. Hogan is seeking unspecified compensation.
Hers is the second lawsuit filed in recent weeks in the Atlanta area by women whose babies died after they gave birth in jail.
In late June, Deshawn Balka, 25, sued Clayton County and the sheriff’s office, alleging a lack of adequate medical care and a slow response to her cries for help when she gave birth to her son in her cell toilet. Balka, who gave birth in April, had been in jail on a probation violation for marijuana possession, but the warrant was later dismissed.
Defendants in both lawsuits have declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Copyright 2012 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution