Boy, 6, forced to run on treadmill by ‘killer’ dad for being ‘too fat’
A father accused of killing his son allegedly forced the six-year-old to run on a treadmill because he considered him ‘too fat’.
Christopher Gregor, 31, has been charged with murdering his son, Corey Micciolo, who sustained traumatic injuries including a blow to the heart before dying.
CCTV shown in at Superior Court in Ocean City, New Jersey, on Tuesday showed Gregor forcing Corey to run on an exercise machine at an Atlantic Heights gym.
The clip obtained by Court TV captured Gregor watching Corey run on the treadmill and fall backward. The dad is shown picking up the boy and putting him back on the treadmill that continued operating. His son falls several times, repeatedly, and is each time pushed to continue jogging.
Corey’s mother, Bre Micciolo, cried as she watched the video played in court. She was the first witness to take the stand.
She said that days before Corey’s death, she reported his injuries to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
Micciolo said she told Gregor to take their son to see a doctor on April 1, 2021.
Corey reportedly told a case worker at the appointment that his dad made him run on the treadmill ‘because he was too fat’.
The boy was rushed to a hospital the next day after waking up with nausea, shortness of breath, slurring his words and stumbling, reported Court TV. Corey had a seizure during a CT scan and medical staff performed life-saving measures, but he died at the hospital.
An arrest warrant obtained by Court TV details accusations against Gregor: ‘Specifically by having (Corey) run on a treadmill and increasing the speed, causing (Corey) to fall, placing (him) back on the moving treadmill while appearing to bite his head, causing the said child to fall several more times.’
Gregor was arrested in July 2021 on child neglect charges after investigators saw the footage from the fitness center. Gregor was arrested in March 2022 in connection with his son’s death and faces charges of first-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child.
The father is being held without bond in Ocean City Jail.
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