A FATHER charged with his son’s death says it was pneumonia that killed the six-year-old boy and not his grueling treadmill workout.
Christopher Gregor, 31, is accused of murdering his son, Corey Micciolo, after a brutal workout that left the boy with fatal injuries in 2021.
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He is on trial in Toms River, New Jersey, where his lawyer, Mario Gallucci, addressed the jurors during opening statements.
“When you see that video, you will be horrified,” Gallucci said, according to the Asbury Park Press.
“You’ll be mortified. Corey’s death had absolutely nothing to do with that treadmill.”
However, prosecutors say it was Gregor’s constant abuse that left the boy with internal injuries, from which he would die two weeks later.
Surveillance footage shows Gregor making his son do intense workouts at the Atlantic Heights Clubhouse gym on March 20, 2021.
The supposed reason for the training was because Gregor believed his son was too fat.
While Corey was on the treadmill, his father increased the speed and incline until the boy fell.
Gregor is then seen picking up his son and placing him back in the machine, however Corey falls again and has trouble keeping up with the speed.
Eventually, Gregor slows down and gives Corey a break.
AUTOPSY RESULTS
The boy’s mother, Breanna Micciolo, who was in a custody dispute with Gregor, testified in court that she later saw bruises on her son.
“He had a bruise on his forehead,” said his mother. “He had a very strange shape. It looked like a print. He had one on his chest. It looked like a scratch.”
She took the boy to the pediatrician, who found nothing alarming about him, however, Corey told the doctor that his father made him run on the treadmill “because he was too fat.”
On April 2, 2021, Corey began slurring his speech after waking up from a nap and was stumbling and feeling nauseous.
Case against Christopher J. Gregor
Christopher J. Gregor was charged with child endangerment and murder in the death of his son Corey Micciolo on April 2, 2021.
On March 20, 2021, security footage from the gym in Gregor’s building showed that the father allegedly forced his 6-year-old son to run on the treadmill.
As the machine sped up, Corey fell and was caught by his shirt and put back into it by Gregor.
The boy fell five more times before slowing down.
Corey’s mother, Bre Micciolo, noticed bruises on his body allegedly from the treadmill incident, according to her statement.
She took him to the hospital on April 1 and Corey said Gregor allegedly told him to run on the treadmill “because he was too fat.”
On April 2, Gregor took Corey to the hospital saying he was sleepy and vomiting. The boy was admitted to the emergency room, where he later died.
The next day, Dr. Dante Ragusa, Ocean County medical examiner, performed his autopsy and concluded the cause of death was due to blunt force injuries, along with heart and liver contusions, acute inflammation and sepsis, according to TV Court. He considered his findings “indeterminate.”
About six months after Corey’s death, Dr. Thomas Andrew, a consultant forensic pathologist, reviewed the case and ruled it a homicide.
He also found evidence that led him to believe Corey was chronically abused.
This included blunt impact injuries to the chest and abdomen, with laceration to the heart, left lung contusion, and laceration and contusion to the liver.
Gregor’s attorney continues to deny any wrongdoing on Gregor’s part, claiming that Corey’s death was due to a sepsis infection and not bruising.
Gregor rushed him to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
“This defendant carried Corey’s nearly limp body to Southern Ocean Medical Center. He reported that Corey was drowsy and vomiting. Corey was quickly admitted and taken to Room 6 of the emergency department,” Assistant District Attorney Jamie Schron told jury.
“He was intubated, coded again. He lost his pulse and at 5:03 p.m. Corey was pronounced dead.”
An autopsy was performed on April 3 by Dr. Dante Ragusa, Ocean County medical examiner.
Ragusa concluded that Corey died from blunt force injuries with heart and liver contusions, acute inflammation and sepsis, according to TV Court.
Three months later, Gregor was arrested on child neglect charges after reviewing the video.
Corey’s death was ruled a homicide in September 2021 by a forensic pathologist, who said he faced chronic child abuse, including blunt force injuries to the chest and stomach and a laceration to the heart.
However, Gallucci argued that this was a sepsis infection that caused Corey’s death.
Gregor was charged with murder on March 9, 2022.
Micciolo admitted during interrogation that she and some friends vandalized Gregor’s parents’ home with eggs and dead fish after Corey’s death.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
