Video Shows Dad Accused of Killing Son, 6, Forcing Boy to Use Treadmill Because He's 'Fat': Prosecutors

Christopher Gregor is charged with endangering the welfare of a child stemming from the gym incident, as well as first-degree murder in the death of his son, Corey Micciolo.

Prosecutors have alleged that at some point before his death in 2021, the boy told his mother that his dad "made him run on the treadmill because he is fat."

The medical examiner determined the child died of blunt force injuries with cardiac and liver contusions with acute inflammation and sepsis. The state later charged Gregor with murder after a consulting doctor determined the "pattern, distribution, and character of the injuries was consistent with ongoing abuse, and found that the manner of death was homicide."

Gregor has pled not guilty and per CourtTV turned down a 30-year plea deal.

On the first day of his trial, surveillance video from inside the gym at Gregor's apartment complex from March 20, 2021 was shown, video even the man's defense team acknowledged would sicken and upset the jury.

In the footage, Gregor is seen taking the boy into the gym after the child's mother, Breanna Micciolo, drops the boy off with his father. Gregor had primary custody of Corey at the time of his death, while Breanna had visitation.

Once inside the gym, Corey gets onto a treadmill, while his father works out across the room. Eventually, Christopher comes over to the machine and begins to speed it up, causing the child to fall off. Prosecutors believe that's when he "appears to bite" the child's head while placing him back on the track.

The child falls off six times in total, with Gregor picking up the boy each time and putting him back on the machine.

"I'm going to tell you right now, you're not gonna like him and I don't care if you like him," Defense attorney Mario Gallucci said in his opening statement Tuesday. "When you see that video, you're going to be horrified, you're going to be mortified, but I'm telling you right now, that the evidence you're going to see of Corey's death had absolutely nothing to do with that treadmill."

The state's opening statement was first, with prosecutor Jamie Schron saying this case "is about Corey and how Corey became the ultimate victim of this defendant's punishment and abuse."

She explained that the boy's parents shared custody of the boy before his death. She claimed that, after the gym incident in March 2021, both Corey's teacher and Breanna herself became "concerned" about the bruises on his body -- causing the boy's mom to file an emergency application with the court to get custody.

When she had visitation with the child on April 1, 2021, she brought him to a pediatrician, who sent them to a local hospital after seeing the bruises, said Schron. Prosecutors claimed the boy was discharged later that evening and he appeared to have "nothing wrong" with him. That same day, Breanna learned her application for custody had been denied.

She brought Corey to his father's the next morning and, hours later, his father rushed him to the hospital -- where he was intubated, coded twice and died. Schron said Christopher then "left the hospital and he left Corey," before he was "found" in Tennessee two days later.

Citing the autopsy, Schron said the child died from blunt force trauma -- before concluding, "Healthy six year olds don't just die during the course of a business day and neither did Corey Micciolo."

"Our version of this evidence looks nothing like [the prosecution's]," Gallucci said during his opening remarks.

After his comments above regarding how much the jury would be "horrified" and "mortified" by the treadmill video, he attempted to separate the incident from the boy's death -- saying the boy spent a "significant amount of time" with both parents between the gym moment and his death.

He claimed the boy tried out for a flag football team in that time and excelled in tryouts during that time. Of the bruising which caused concerns, he also claimed they occurred from the treadmill incident, as well as from playing football and just "boys being boys."

Gallucci went on to claim Breanna checked her son out of the hospital against the advice of doctors, who allegedly warned her about the possibility of sepsis. He said he'd present evidence that it was sepsis caused by an infection which possibly caused the child's death -- claiming a CT scan done after Corey's death showed the possibility of pneumonia.

"No child should die, but it's not murder," he told the court.

Giving her own testimony on Tuesday, Breanna read text messages from Christopher about her emergency order being denied, before recalling her phone call from Gregor hours before his death.

"He said he was lethargic, his legs were hurting, he was sleeping all day and he was throwing up," Micciolo said, tearing up, before adding Christopher asked for Corey's insurance cards and indicated he'd be taking the boy to the hospital.

She said he didn't tell her which hospital he'd be going to and didn't hear from him after that, explaining she later learned her son died from police.

During cross-examination, Breanna -- who testified about her drug addiction issues, which is why she lost custody -- admitted to asking her boyfriend for a "bump" of meth, after getting the call from Gregor on April 2. She said that while she wanted drugs -- because she "was very upset about my son being abused" -- she didn't use them. Breanna said she began getting sober in Summer 2020, but relapsed in December 2020 and again, "once or twice," in February 2021.