By admin 
Two sets of parents have sued Medical City Weatherford and doctors at a Weatherford obstetrics and gynecology practice in North Texas after they say negligence resulted in their newborn babies suffering catastrophic brain injuries, which led to the death of one of the infants.
Read more A nurse treated dying students for 2 weeks in 1918. Her ghost is said to still haunt the campus
The babies, Layton Holloway and Ryker McKinley, were born within a month of one another last year at Medical City Weatherford Hospital, which is about 30 miles west of Fort Worth.
According to court filings, Layton’s mother, Kellie Holloway, gave birth Sept. 17, 2025, and Ryker’s mother, Mariah Sales, gave birth Oct. 12, 2025.
Both mothers were admitted to Medical City Weatherford for scheduled labor inductions. Holloway was induced a week and a half before her due date because of elevated blood pressure, and Sales was induced a week early because of excess protein in her urine. But because of complications in the delivery room, both women gave birth via caesarean section.
In each case, the baby was not breathing upon delivery, court filings said. Layton was reportedly blue and limp, and Ryker had no heart rate and had to be resuscitated. Both were transferred to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth and spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit, where they were diagnosed with brain injuries due to oxygen deprivation.
At a press conference on Oct. 12 at the Dallas offices of Miller Weisbrod Olesky, the law firm representing both families in their lawsuits, Cameron McKinley, Ryker’s father, said Medical City staff didn’t initially communicate the seriousness of his son’s condition. Kellie Holloway and her husband, Brendan, said that was also the case when Layton was born.
“They never even said he was really in distress,” said Kellie.
“Things went from normal to bad real quick, and everybody was freaking out,” Cameron McKinley said. “And it took the doctor a long amount of time to arrive to even assess the situation.”
Brendan Holloway said more than four hours elapsed between the time his wife was admitted to the hospital and the time her C-section began.
“You just had a feeling that something wasn’t right,” he said. “Why would you take so long when you know there’s something not right with our baby? From then on, it just kept going downhill.”
The families’ attorney, Les Weisbrod, alleged that the staff present in the delivery room when Layton and Ryker were born were not qualified to resuscitate the babies. This contributed to Ryker going 22 minutes without oxygen and with a low heart rate, Weisbrod said.
Ryker died Nov. 25, 2025, after 44 days on a ventilator at Cook Children’s. Layton survived, but the court filings said he has permanent brain injury. According to Weisbrod, Layton is expected to have cerebral palsy and may never walk.
Weatherford doctors named as defendants
At Medical City Weatherford, Layton was delivered by Krista Lemley, and Ryker was delivered by Jennifer Moss, both physicians with Weatherford OB/GYN Associates.
In the lawsuits, Lemley and Moss are named as defendants, along with Medical City Weatherford and Weatherford OB/GYN Associates. The Holloway lawsuit names Cook Children’s and Sandra Rodriguez, an on-call pediatrician at Medical City Weatherford, as additional defendants.
Lemley has practiced medicine for 14 years, 10 of those in Texas, according to Texas Medical Board records. She has never been investigated for malpractice or been sanctioned by the medical board, the records showed. Rodriguez has practiced in Texas for 21 years and has no reported sanctions or malpractice investigations.
Read more Sacramento sculptor brings history to life, honoring Robert Louis Stevenson’s honeymoon
Moss obtained her Texas medical license in 1999. However, it was suspended in 2003, with Texas Medical Board records saying she was found to have “used alcohol in a manner that could endanger a patient’s life.”
Records showed Moss entered an inpatient rehabilitation center after her license was suspended. In 2005, the license was cancelled for nonpayment, according to medical board records. Moss applied for and received a physician-in-training permit in 2008. According to medical board records, sources attested to Moss’ sobriety at that time. She reportedly stopped using alcohol in August 2003.
Moss’ medical license was reinstated in 2010, but she was ordered to abstain from alcohol and drugs, submit to alcohol and drug screenings, meet monthly with a psychiatrist and participate in an addiction recovery program such as Alcoholics Anonymous. That order was amended in 2011 so that Moss only had to see a psychiatrist quarterly.
In 2017, Moss’ restrictions were terminated.
The lawsuits allege that the physicians and other medical staff were negligent in the deaths of Layton Holloway and Ryker McKinley, and that Medical City Weatherford was liable for failing to implement, enforce or follow proper medical procedures, among other allegations. The Holloways said Cook Children’s staff failed to properly monitor Layton and properly respond to his low blood sugar readings.
When reached by phone Friday morning and again Friday afternoon, an employee at Weatherford OB/GYN Associates said no one at the practice could comment on the cases at this time. The Star-Telegram was unable to locate a good direct phone number for Lemley or Moss.
There were no attorneys listed as representing the physicians in court records.
In an email, a representative for Cook Children’s said patient privacy laws prohibited them from commenting. A voice message requesting comment from Medical City Weatherford was not immediately returned.
The lawsuits were filed Oct. 9 in Dallas County, where Medical City and Unified Women’s Healthcare of Texas, the parent company of Weatherford OB/GYN Associates, are headquartered.
“Neither one of these cases had to happen,” Weisbrod said at Monday’s press conference. “I’ve been doing this kind of work for 40 years or more, and I’ve never in that time period seen two brain-injured babies in the same hospital within 25 days.”
Weisbrod went on to say he wanted to caution expectant mothers away from the Weatherford hospital, and he questioned Moss’ and Lemley’s medical judgment.
“It’s dangerous to have a baby at Medical City Weatherford unless and until they get properly trained personnel and obstetricians to work there,” he said.
The families are seeking monetary relief in excess of $1 million each. In the Hollways’ case, the family is also seeking damages for Layton’s future medical care and pain and suffering.
This story was originally published October 18, 2026 at 4:50 AM with the headline “2 babies suffered brain injuries at same Texas hospital 25 days apart. 1 died, lawsuits say.”
Read more During chilly Charlotte show, Ed Sheeran talked about almost everything. Almost.