NJ dad Christopher Gregor accused of 6-year-old son’s treadmill death dodges murder charge, is found guilty of manslaughter
The New Jersey dad accused of killing his 6-year-old son by forcing him to run on a treadmill at high speeds was found guilty of manslaughter Friday — dodging a murder charge in the disturbing 2021 case.
Christopher Gregor, 31, was also found guilty of endangering the welfare of a child over the caught-on-camera incident in which surveillance video showed him increase the speed of the treadmill Corey Micciolo was running on, causing the youngster to repeatedly fall.
The killer dad appeared stonefaced when the tearful forewoman read out the guilty verdict, only shaking his head slightly.
His ex Breanna Micciolo — who he tried to pin little Corey’s death on — burst into tears upon hearing the news.
“We’re happy with the verdict and we thank the prosecutor’s office,” an emotional Micciolo said outside the courthouse, Asbury Park Press reported.
The jury delivered the verdict after five hours of deliberation, during which time they rejected a murder charge, which would have carried a 30-year to life imprisonment sentence.
Gregor, a teacher, only faces 10 to 30 years in jail on the lesser charge. He will be sentenced on Aug. 2.
According to his attorneys, Gregor anticipated being found guilty of his son’s death but maintains his innocence and plans to appeal the ruling.
“He was not surprised,” defense attorney Mario Gallucci said. “He knows it was just the first step in a long battle.”
The decision follows a grueling four-week trial in which the jury was shown surveillance video of Gregor forcing Corey to run on a treadmill after the 6-year-old boy fell off multiple times due to the exercise machine’s excessive speed.
Gregor was seen increasing the speed and incline of the track — and placing little Corey back on the racing machine immediately after he was ejected.
The boy was taken to the doctor several days later, admitting that his father forced him to run because he was “too fat.”
Corey was rushed to the hospital just 24 hours later after he woke up from a nap stumbling, slurring his words, and experiencing nausea and shortness of breath — but died from a seizure during a CT scan.
An initial autopsy found Corey died as a result of blunt force injuries with cardiac and liver contusions with acute inflammation and sepsis, leading Gregor to be charged with child neglect.
The charges were later upgraded after a forensic pathologist determined Corey’s death to be a homicide — ruling that the boy suffered from chronic abuse including blunt impact injuries on his chest and abdomen with a laceration on his heart, left pulmonary contusion, and laceration and contusion of his liver.
During court, it was revealed Gregor didn’t know about Corey’s existence until the boy was 5, when Micciolo lost custody because of drug addiction — a fact Gregor weaponized days after the youngster’s death.
“If he didn’t have a drug addict mother, then he’d still be alive. That’s been going through my head this whole drive. She’s a special kind of dirtbag,” Gregor told a cop who had pulled him over in Tennessee.
He also alleged he was arrested once before in New Jersey, when Micciolo’s family supposedly planted marijuana on him.
When the cops asked about his son’s death, Gregor said the boy succumbed to what doctors thought was “internal bleeding.”
Gregor’s team argued that the boy’s injuries could have been caused by the aggressive cardiopulmonary resuscitation performed on him in the emergency room for 49 minutes in an attempt to save his life.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer issued a prepared statement following the verdict, saying, “At long last, justice for Corey has been accomplished.”
“Christopher Gregor must live the rest of his life with the knowledge that he, and he alone, was responsible for the death of his one and only son,” Billhimer said.
“While nothing can bring this precious child back to his family, we hope that today’s jury verdict offers some semblance of peace and closure for those who knew and loved Corey.”
