Fort Worth family raises questions about the death of their infant daughter
A Fort Worth family is raising questions about the death of their infant daughter Dec. 5, alleging that their daughter’s body arrived at the funeral home without any organs.
Kenneth Sauls, the baby’s father, said he did consent to a hospital autopsy after her death, but that he was not informed the organs would be retained. He said the president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth called him Friday and told him the hospital still had the baby’s organs.
The hospital declined to comment on the situation, citing patient privacy laws. The Tree of Life Funeral Directors, which handled Samaria’s body, also declined to comment.
Dr. Reade Quinton, the president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, said autopsies always involve organ removal.
“The act of performing an autopsy involves, by definition, removal of organs for examination,” Quinton said in an email. “Once removed during an autopsy, organs can be retained for further studies or released with the body depending on the consent.”
Samaria Sauls and her twin sister were born prematurely on Oct. 23 at just 29 weeks, and were immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth in downtown Fort Worth. The twins’ health was progressing well throughout November, their parents said.
Then, on Dec. 5, Sauls went for his daily visit to see his daughters. A nurse stopped him from entering the room, saying that a sterile procedure was occurring. The family says that throughout the day, hospital staff did not communicate with them about what was going on and they had to fight to get answers. The family is accusing the hospital of mishandling the situation, arguing that hospital staff didn’t act with urgency when treating Samaria.
“Our thoughts go out to the family during this difficult time,” a Texas Health spokesperson said in a statement. “It is always our first priority to provide our patients with the highest level of compassionate, safe, quality care. Due to patient privacy laws, we will not be able to share any information.”
Samaria died at about 7:30 p.m. The family said the hospital told them necrotizing enterocolitis is the cause of death. Necrotizing enterocolitis is a life-threatening illness in newborns that happens when “tissue in the mucus lining of the intestines gets inflamed,” according to Stanford Medicine. In 2023, 339 infants in the U.S. died of necrotizing enterocolitis, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The family has organized a protest outside the hospital to draw attention to their cause and the broader issue of infant mortality in Black infants. Infants born to Black mothers, like Samaria, die at 1.9 times the national rate. On Thursday, the family released purple and white balloons into the air in honor of baby Samaria. Sauls and his fiancée, Samaria Bates, said they have been devastated by their grief.
“I’m just trying to hold it together,” Sauls said. “But this has ruined my family.”
Sauls said his family has retained a lawyer to advise them on next steps. He said they are still fighting to get answers from the hospital, particularly about why the hospital allegedly retained Samaria’s organs.
