After a four-week trial, New Jersey dad Christopher Gregor has been found guilty of manslaughter for his son Corey Micciolo's death in 2021. Micciolo died after sustaining injuries he obtained running on a fast-moving treadmill. Video surveillance of Gregor forcing Corey to keep running despite the 6-year-old falling multiple times went viral during the trial, showing Gregor's role in the incident.
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The New Jersey jury passed on charging Gregor with murder, but did find him guilty of both aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment. He could serve up to 30 years in jail when he is sentenced on August 2.
"We’re happy with the verdict and we thank the prosecutor’s office," Breanna Micciolo, Corey's mother, told the Asbury Park Press after the verdict was given.
Gregor's lawyer, Mario Gallucci, says that he "absolutely" plans to appeal the verdict. "He was not surprised," Gallucci said. "He knows it was just the first step in a long battle."
Throughout the case, Gregor maintained that he was not responsible for Corey's death. Despite the evidence that showed him forcing Corey to run on the treadmill, Gregor's team tried to blame the boy's death on pneumonia.
Gregor wasn't charged with Corey's murder until a year after the young boy died. Initially, he was only charged with child endangerment after the police obtained the surveillance video. The first medical examiner ruled Corey's death undetermined. Later, Dr. Thomas Andrew, former chief medical examiner for New Hampshire, reexamined Corey's body and found that he died as the result of blunt force injuries to the chest and lacerations to the heart and liver.
"What kind of father would do this to their son?" Christine Lento, an assistant prosecutor, said during the closing arguments. "Everything that you need and want to know is captured on this video," she added.
Breanna Micciolo said that she tried to report Gregor's suspected abuse more than 100 times in 18 months to officials, but no action was taken. "I don’t know if it was incompetence on [the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency] side or they just didn’t believe me," she told outlet News Nation last year.
