"I'm being treated for several mental health disorders since Corey was murdered: PTSD, nightmare disorder, depression and anxiety. I'm on several medications to get through the day. I can't work. I'm no longer living, I'm existing," said Rebecca Micciolo.
A New Jersey judge sentenced Christopher Gregor to 25 years in prison on Friday for killing his 6-year-old son Corey Micciolo.
Prior to handing down that sentence, the judge heard from Gregor and members of Corey's family, including the boy's heartbroken mother Bre Micciolo and his grieving grandmother Rebecca Micciolo.
A jury convicted Gregor of aggravated manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child back in May while finding him not guilty of second-degree murder. Those convictions stem from two incidents involving Gregor and his son.
Rebecca and Bre both struggled to maintain their composure as the two read their impact statements in front of a packed courthouse on Friday.
"This is not a man who should be shown mercy. My daughter slept in my bed many nights since Cory was murdered because she was afraid to be alone. We have nightmares," Rebecca told the judge.
She then said that she herself continues to have mental health struggles more than three years after her grandson's death on April 2, 2021.
"I'm being treated for several mental health disorders ... PTSD, nightmare disorder, depression and anxiety. I'm on several medications to get through the day. I can't work," said Rebecca.
She then told the judge: "I'm no longer living your honor, I'm existing."
THE DEATH OF COREY MICCIOLO
Jurors convicted Gregor of endangering the welfare of a child after prosecutors played surveillance video from the gym inside his apartment complex taken two weeks before his son's death on March 20, 2021. In the video, Gregor can be seen forcing Corey to run at full speed on a treadmill and then repeatedly picking the boy up and forcing him back on the machine each time he falls. At one point in the video, Gregor also appears to be biting his son on the head.
After learning about this incident, Corey's mother, Bre Micciolo, petitioned the court for emergency custody of her son. A judge denied that bid on April 1, 2001, writing in his ruling that the court "does not find that ... Corey is in danger of imminent and irreparable harm. Therefore, the Court does not find a temporary modification of the parties' custody and parenting time arrangement appropriate at this time."
The following day, Bre dropped Corey off at Gregor's home.
It was the last time she would ever see her son alive.
It is unclear what transpired in the hours after Bre dropped off Corey, and prosecutors did not present any possible scenarios to jurors during the trial. They were able however to detail the injuries the boy suffered that day thanks to Bre, who took Corey to see both a doctor and a specialist on April 1 at the suggestion of the judge who denied her bid. The examinations and tests performed on Corey by doctors that day provided evidence that the boy's fatal injuries were not suffered until he was in his father's custody.
Prosecutors were able to show Gregor dropping Corey off at the hospital and then abandoning his son to flee the state. In a cruel twist, he also allegedly informed Bre that her son was in the hospital but did not tell her which hospital, Bre told Inside Edition Digital.
Bre gave birth to Corey when she was 17 and Gregor was 22.
At the sentencing hearing on Friday, Rebecca said that her daughter got pregnant after being sexually assaulted by Gregor, with whom she had never had a relationship.
Gregor's attorney, Mario F. Gallucci, previously responded to that claim in a statement to Inside Edition Digital. "Unfortunately, Ms. Micciolo’s mother (Rebecca) has a very vivid imagination,"
Bre raised Corey on her own for the first five years of his short life until Gregor petitioned the court for joint custody.
That is when the abuse started, Bre previously told Inside Edition Digital.
It was after Corey's third visit with his father in September 2019 when Bre said she first grew concerned about her son's safety.
Corey came home with a "busted lip" and "swollen face," but neither he nor his father would say what happened, said Bre.
Bre said she took pictures of his injuries and submitted them along with the little information she could gather to DCPP.
From that point on, whenever Corey came home injured, Bre said she documented the injuries and reported them to DCPP.
Bre estimated that she made over 100 calls to DCPP in 18 months and filed multiple complaints alleging that Gregor had been beating their son.
"They made it seem to be I was bothering them," Bre said of the case workers.
As for Gregor, she said that the response from DCPP only emboldened him over time.
"The more he got away with it, the worse the abuse got," Bre said of Gregor. "And he was aware after the first time I reported it [in September 2019]."
DCCP did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
CHRISTOPHER GREGOR SENTENCING HEARING
Rebecca said on Friday that she struggles to even go shopping at the mall in the wake of Corey's death.
"I have difficulty going into a store and seeing little boy clothes and toys that Corey would have loved," Rebecca told the judge.
She added: "In September when everyone is preparing their kids to go back to school, I wonder what backpack or shoes Corey would have chosen."
Rebecca also said that her own health has been in decline ever since losing Corey.
"I cry several times a day. My physical appearance has changed. My health has declined. I've aged. I'm angry, sad, bitter and mostly I'm broken," she told the judge.
Even happier moments, like the birth of Bre's daughter, are tinged with an underlying sadness said Rebecca.
"My granddaughter visits her brother's grave and sits on the ground and plays with toys left there for Corey by strangers from all over the world. It just makes me so sad watching Brianna watch her daughter at Corey's resting place," Rebecca said.
She continued: "Corey wanted a baby sister so bad, and now she's here, but he's not. And Chris Gregor is the reason he isn't here."
Rebecca then asked how she should explain to her granddaughter what happened to her brother.
"I often wonder how we will explain to my granddaughter that Corey isn't here. Do we tell her his father killed him so she can wonder if that's what daddy's do?," said Rebecca.
She then said that in addition to a sister, Corey also wanted a father.
"Instead, he got this monster who ridiculed him, deprived him of food, love and compassion, and beat him and abused him," said Rebecca.
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