The trial of a New Jersey father facing murder charges for the death of his 6-year-old son began with opening statements and testimonies, with prosecutors arguing that the dad caused the incident by forcing him to run on a treadmill, maintaining that the child was “too fat”.
This fatal incident was recorded on a surveillance camera, which shows Christopher Gregor, 31, forcing his son, Corey Micciolo, to continue running and repeatedly turning up the speed of the machine, causing Corey to fall off of it face-first about six times.
The footage, which dates back to March 2021, is being used by Ocean County prosecutors to argue that the child died from blunt force trauma he suffered from Gregor pushing him to continue running.
Prosecutors also emphasized that he had contusions all over his body, and his heart and liver were lacerated.
Whereas Gregor’s lawyer, Mario Gallucci, said their medical experts are going to testify that Micciolo’s death was due to sepsis caused by pneumonia.
While Gallucci acknowledged that viewing the tape would “horrify” the jury during opening statements on Tuesday, he argued it had nothing to do with the boy’s death, which occurred two weeks after the workout incident took place.
Aside from a murder charge, Gregor is also facing a possible child endangerment conviction for what was displayed in the video.
Testimony continued in the trial this week and is set to resume next Tuesday.
