Bre Micciolo, the mother of victim Corey Micciolo, openly wept as the verdict was read in court. Her Order to Show Cause seeking emergency custody of her son had been rejected by a judge one day before the boy's death.
A jury in New Jersey found Christopher Gregor not guilty of murdering his 6-year-old son Corey Micciolo.
The jury did convict Gregor on the lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter, which carries a sentence of 10 to 30 years in prison in the state of New Jersey. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 11 .
Gregor shook his head in apparent disbelief and anger after hearing the verdict and later appeared to be fighting back tears while the victim's mother, Bre Micciolo, openly wept in court.
Jurors also convicted Gregor of endangering the welfare of a child after viewing a video of him forcing his son to run on a treadmill despite the child repeatedly falling off the workout machine at the gym in his apartment complex.
Micciolo filed an Order to Show Cause seeking emergency custody of Corey just days before his death, while DCPP investigated her report that Gregor abused Corey by forcing him to run on a treadmill. DCPP had seen the video, and a case worker later told police that he photographed and investigated bruising on Corey six days after that incident.
A judge did not grant Micciolo's request for emergency custody of Corey in a ruling submitted to the court just one day before his death. The preliminary findings submitted by DCPP about the March 20 incident played a crucial role in the judge's decision, says the ruling, which was obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
The ruling notes, however, 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."
Micciolo dropped off Corey at Gregor's home, as was ordered by the court, at about 9 a.m. on April 2, 2021. She told police she last heard from Gregor at about 3:30 p.m., when he told her he was taking Corey to the hospital.
Two hours after he arrived at the hospital, Corey died.
Inside Edition Digital was not in the courtroom to see the treadmill video, but the probable cause affidavit filed by police describes what happened that day, just two weeks before Corey's death..
"At approximately 1618 hours, [Corey] begins running on a treadmill. At approximately 1627 hours, Gregor approached the treadmill and appeared to increase the speed," the affidavit says. "At approximately 1628 hours, [Corey] falls off of the back of the treadmill. Gregor subsequently picks [Corey] up by grabbing his shirt, putting him back in the moving treadmill. [Corey] appears to struggling to gain footing, while Gregor appears to be biting on the top of [Corey's] head.
"[Corey] regains footing and continues running on the treadmill," the affidavit continues. "Gregor appears to adjust the speed of the treadmill as [Corey] again falls off of the back. [Corey] attempts to run onto the moving treadmill four more times, falling off the back each time, while Gregor stands next to the treadmill."
Corey's mother told police that this happened because Gregor was mad at Corey.
"[Corey] told [Bre Micciolo] that Gregor made him run on the treadmill really fast because Gregor was mad. While running on the treadmill [Corey] fell and hit his head," the affidavit says.
Jurors during the trial also saw video of Gregor arriving at a local hospital with Corey on the day the boy died.
Corey spoke to hospital staff about experiencing nausea and shortness of breath, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Det. Denis Mitchell of the major crime unit and homicide squad in the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.
Corey soon started having seizures, the affidavit says. He died less than an hour later.
The probable cause affidavit alleges that upon learning the news, Gregor got into his car and left the state. He did not return for three months, authorities said.
An autopsy determined that Corey's cause of death was blunt force injuries, including blunt force trauma with cardiac and liver contusions with acute inflammation and sepsis.
In March 2022, prosecutors formally charged Gregor with murder and ordered him held without bond at the Ocean County Jail.
The defense attempted to dispute the findings of this autopsy report and said in their opening statement that Corey died of pneumonia.
Micciolo gave birth to Corey when she was 17 and Gregor was 22. She raised Corey on her own for the first five years of his short life, and then shared custody with Gregor after he petitioned the court for joint custody. That is when the abuse started, according to Micciolo, who took the stand early in the trial.
Gregor and his mother were both expected to testify in his defense at the trial but Gregor's attorney declined to call either to the stand after prosecutors obtained an audio recording of Gregor coaching his mother from his jail cell ahead of her testimony.
