In a recent verdict delivered on July 29, 2025, a Macon County jury granted $17.1 million to the family of infant Oliver Bayless, who tragically passed away in early 2019.
Oliver, born in May 2018, sustained serious injuries during childbirth that ultimately proved fatal by February 2019. The family’s lawsuit accused physicians at Women’s Health Care Specialists of Decatur of failing to adhere to professional guidelines for managing gestational hypertension. According to the family’s attorneys, Coplan + Crane’s David Axelrod and Ted Jennings, signs indicated Oliver required expedited delivery, but critical intervention didn’t occur in time. The resulting brain injury was catastrophic and irreversible, eventually leading to Oliver’s passing.
Ted Jennings stated, “This verdict represents some measure of justice for Oliver, Hannah and Colton,” noting how deeply meaningful it is to the family that the jury “stood with them on behalf of Oliver.”Watch David and Ted’s full interview with WAND here: https://www.wandtv.com/news/jury-awards-17-million-to-macon-county-family-following-death-of-infant-son/article_7c9a3e03-616a-4144-b83b-9532e016b65f.html
