Christopher Gregor Verdict Watch: Jury Deliberates in Treadmill Death Case

A New Jersey jury is deliberating whether Christopher Gregor should go to prison for murdering and endangering his six-year-old son.

Deliberations in the trial began on Thursday after the jury heard nearly a month of testimony

Gregor, 31, is accused of forcing his six-year-old son, Corey Micciolo, to run on a treadmill because he was “too fat.”

Surveillance video played in court showed the father and son at the fitness center of Gregor’s New Jersey apartment complex on March 20, 2021. The child is seen running on the treadmill as the father increases the speed.

Micciolo falls off the treadmill several times as he struggles to keep up. After Micciolo stumbles, Gregor grabs him by the shirt. Gregor also appears to bite the child’s head.

Gregor took Micciolo to the hospital on April 2, 2021 after he woke up from a nap stumbling, slurring his speech and experiencing nausea and breathing difficulty. The child suffered seizures during a CT scan and efforts to save his life were unsuccessful.

The trial began with opening statements on April 30.

The prosecution argued during their opening statement that the evidence presented would prove Gregor murdered his son.

“After you’ve heard and seen all of the evidence in this case, you will be firmly convinced that this defendant is guilty of abuse and murder, because healthy six-year-olds don’t just die,” Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Jamie Schron said.

Defense Attorney Mario Gallucci said his during opening statement that jurors would be “horrified” after seeing the video of Gregor forcing Micciolo to run on the treadmill.

“I’m going to tell you right now, you’re not going to like him,” Gallucci said. “And I don’t care if you like him.”

Gallucci argued that Micciolo’s death was a separate incident.

“The evidence you are going to see of Corey’s death had absolutely nothing to do with that treadmill,” Gallucci.

Corey’s mother, Breanna Micciolo took the stand after opening statements concluded. She testified that she noticed bruises on Corey in late March of 2021.

“He had a bruise on his forehead,” she testified. “It was very odd-shaped. It looked like an impression. He had one on his chest. It looked like a scrape.”

She said she then filed an application for sole custody of her son.

“I was in fear for Corey’s life,” Breanna Micciolo said.

Other witnesses called to the stand included medical professionals, investigators and Gregor’s parents.

David Gregor said his grandson Corey Micciolo was left alone at the hospital after his death and Christopher Gregor went to Arkansas instead. David Gregor said he tried to get his son to go back to the hospital.

“I told him he needed to come back,” David Gregor said.

Sgt. Raymond Coles testified that Gregor searched “Will red marks turn into bruises,” “Can your phone be tracked in airplane mode” and “Can my car be tracked?” on his phone in March and April of 2021.

One person who did not take the stand, however, was Christopher Gregor. He denied his opportunity to testify.