A DAD has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was convicted of manslaughter in the slow death of his 6-year-old son.
A jury found Christopher Gregor, 32, guilty of aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment after sickening video showed him forcing his son, Corey Micciolo, to run on a treadmill.
The New Jersey dad was handed a 20-year sentence for manslaughter, and five years for child endangerment.
Gregor had been facing up to 40 years in prison at his sentencing on Friday at Ocean Superior Court.
Corey’s mother, Breanna Micciolo, addressed the court moments before Gregor learned his fate.
“He is sick in the head and used Corey as his punching bag, he never had an ounce of love for Corey, he never praised him… he punished Corey every chance he could get,” she said through tears.
Corey’s grandmother called him a “monster” during sentencing, and recalled a disturbing conversation in which her grandson asked why God was not protecting him from his father.
Gregor said he “regretted” not taking his son to the hospital sooner.
During Gregor’s six-week-long trial, Ocean County prosecutors had argued that Corey died from blunt force trauma he suffered when his dad forced him to run on a treadmill in March 2021.
The workout was captured on surveillance video after the grueling session took place at the Atlantic Heights Clubhouse fitness center.
It shows Gregor continually increasing the treadmill’s speed, causing his son to fall off it face-first about six times.
He allegedly forced him to do the brutal treadmill workout because he was “too fat,” the court was told.
I do not forgive this monster.
Corey's grandmother
His lawyer, Mario Gallucci, had said that viewing the tape would “horrify” the jury.
But he argued the treadmill incident had nothing to do with the death, which occurred about two weeks after the workout took place.
Medical experts for the defense testified that the child’s death was due to sepsis caused by pneumonia.
Prosecutors noted the boy had contusions all over his body, and his heart and liver were lacerated.
Gallucci said the bruises came from the treadmill and playing football.
A doctor confirmed that Corey had died from blunt force trauma and a laceration to his heart.
His death was ruled as a homicide caused by chronic child abuse.
Corey died from blunt force injuries with cardiac and liver contusions, according to an initial autopsy.
He also had acute inflammation and sepsis.
Footage shown to the jury showed the dad carrying his son to the front desk at Southern Ocean Medical Center on April 2, 2021.
The boy didn’t move as he lay in his father’s arms, taking “dire, almost end-of-life breaths,” according to testimony from William Doyle, the registered nurse on duty at the time.
Christopher J. Gregor was convicted of aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment for 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 the father allegedly forced his 6-year-old son to run on the treadmill.
As the machine sped up, Corey fell off and was picked up by his shirt and placed back on it by Gregor.
The boy fell another five times before the speed was lowered.
Corey’s mother, Bre Micciolo, noticed bruises on his body allegedly from the treadmill incident, according to her testimony.
She brought him to the hospital on April 1 and Corey shared that Gregor allegedly told him to run on the treadmill “because he was too fat.”
On April 2, Gregor brought Corey to the hospital saying that he was sleepy and throwing up. The boy was admitted to the emergency department where he later died.
The following day, Dr. Dante Ragusa, an Ocean County medical examiner, performed his autopsy and concluded that the cause of death was due to blunt force injuries, along with cardiac and liver contusions, acute inflammation, and sepsis, according to Court TV. He ruled his findings “undetermined.”
About six months after Corey’s death, Dr. Thomas Andrew, a consulting forensic pathologist reviewed the case and determined it was homicide.
He also found evidence that led him to believe Corey was chronically abused.
This included blunt impact injuries on his chest and abdomen with a laceration on his heart, left pulmonary contusion, and laceration and contusion of his 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.
Corey “was not showing any signs that he was verbal,” said Doyle, adding that the boy’s head was tilting back as he was taken to the examination room.
“He was an all-hands-on-deck situation,” said Doyle.
Corey’s injuries were so bad that he suffered a seizure during a CT scan, forcing medical staff to make emergency efforts to save his life.
However, they were unable to resuscitate the boy, and he was pronounced dead just before 5 pm.
During sentencing, Corey’s mom, Breanna, told the court that she had had no chance to farewell her son. Gregor had allowed Corey to suffer silently “for hours,” she claimed.
She also accused him of failing to act swiftly enough to obtain medical help, and she said that CCTV footage showed him “slowly walking Corey into hospital.”
“He is sick in the head and used Corey as his punching bag,” she added.
“I hate you for not letting me see my son.
“What this monster did was disgusting… I only hope the worse for him.”
Breanna maintained that her son would still be alive today had Gregor sought help sooner.
Corey’s grandmother told the court today: “I do not forgive this monster.”
“He beat my grandson and he denied him medical attention for several hours. Leaving him to die with only a nurse and medical staff around him,” she added through tears.
She accused him of failing to contact her daughter and the boy’s family in time to comfort him as he died.
The grandmother also claimed that Corey feared he “would die.”
She recalled one of the final conversations, in which she claimed he had asked her why God “doesn’t help me.”
“He said ‘G-ma, does God see what my daddy does to me? Why doesn’t he help me?’ I told him that God was helping someone else that needed him more.
“He also asked why his father hadn’t gone to hell – I told him he would some day.”
Gregor stood up and directed his comments to Breanna, telling her their son “was simply the best.”
“We’ll miss him for the rest of our lives, he was a happy, radiant young boy… sorry.”
He recalled trips to the beach, parks, and said that such memories would help him “get through the tough times.”
“It pains me to think that you think I could have hurt our son,” he said.
“I didn’t hurt my son, I loved him and I still do, I regret not bringing him to the hospital sooner… I just thought he was tired… and whether you believe… the doctors’ version of events, the outcome is the same, Corey is gone, he had so much to give to his world.”
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