Treadmill Trial: Accused Child Killer’s Mom Breaks Down in Court, Recalls Hearing of 6-Year-Old’s Death During Phone Call

A Pennsylvania man convicted in May on charges of aggravated manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of his 6-year-old son was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that Christopher Gregor, 32, will be required to serve 85 percent of the sentence before he can be considered for parole.

Corey Micciolo died from blunt force trauma injuries in April 2021, two weeks after his father was filmed speeding up a treadmill he forced the boy to run on, causing him to fall, as CrimeOnline reported.

The boy’s mother testified at Gregor’s trial that he took Corey to see a doctor on April 1, 2021, and that the boy told medical staff about the treadmill, saying his father called him “fat” and forced him to run on the treadmill. The next day, Micciolo was rushed to a hospital after waking up slurring his words and with nausea and shortness of breath.

Christopher Gregor/Police Handout

During a CT scan, the boy had a seizure and died.

Gregor was arrested first in the summer and released on bond, but in March 2022 he was charged with the boy’s death after a state report indicated the the death was a homicide. Gregor was held without bail after that, the prosecutor’s office said.

“Christopher Gregor will spend the rest of his days here on earth knowing that he caused the death of his son Corey,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. “While nothing can bring this precious child back to his family, I hope that today’s sentence brings some sense of closure for those who knew and loved Corey. At long last, justice for Corey has been accomplished.”

As CrimeOnline reported, Corey’s mother had been trying to get full custody of her son after noticing warning signs of abuse.  She began taking photos of the boy after he spent time with his father, but, she said, niether the Department of Protection and Permanency nor the courts responded quickly enough to her reports of abuse.

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