A New Jersey father accused of causing the death of his 6-year-old son was convicted Friday of aggravated murder, much to the chagrin of a Staten Island attorney who represented him in the case.
Christopher Gregor, now 32, of Monroe Township, was found guilty by a jury of aggravated manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child after a six-week trial, NJ.com reported.
Outside court, prominent defense attorney Mario Gallucci told reporters that his team was “obviously disappointed” with the outcome, but that it was “the first step in a very long battle.”
Gallucci said he plans to appeal the decision, but not before thanking the jury for “the hard work they did” and praising prosecutors for “very capable work.”
Six-year-old Corey Micciolo died at Hackensack Meridien Health Southern Ocean Medical Center on April 2, 2021.
Prosecutors presented jurors with surveillance video from an apartment gym that they said showed Gregor forcing his 6-year-old son to perform an abusive workout on a treadmill that left the boy abused and ultimately dead.
Corey Micciolo, family photos
“Christopher Gregor must live the rest of his life knowing that he, and he alone, was responsible for the death of his only son,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a statement.
“It is right and just that he bears that cross. While nothing can return this precious boy to his family, we hope that today’s jury verdict offers a semblance of peace and closure for those who knew and loved Corey. Justice has finally been served for Corey.”
Corey’s mother, Breanna Micciolo, filed a civil lawsuit against the Division of Child Protection and Permanency earlier this month, alleging the agency failed to protect the boy from abuse, according to NJ.com.
Gregor will be sentenced in Ocean County Superior Court on August 2.
Gallucci told jurors in his opening arguments that they wouldn’t like his client after seeing the “horrible” surveillance video, but that “he doesn’t care.” Because the treadmill, he claimed, had nothing to do with the boy’s death, which occurred 12 days later.
In this 2015 photo, Mario Gallucci answers questions from the press outside the Staten Island Courthouse during the Pedro Abad case. (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
An initial autopsy ruled the cause and manner of death undetermined, but a year later a second opinion by a prosecutor’s expert found the boy died from blunt force trauma.
Gallucci also raised questions about the boy’s mother and whether she may have had anything to do with the tragedy, citing a call his client made to child services before the boy’s death.
The case attracted national media attention, including an exposé in Esquire magazine and a live broadcast on Court TV.
That attention brought intense pushback, Gallucci said in a previous interview with Advance/SILive.com.
“What’s different in this case is the amount of vitriol from Internet trolls,” he said at the time.
When asked if there are times when he doubts whether it’s worth risking his job security, he said that the more hate mail he receives, “the more I know the case is worth taking.”
“My job is to defend the Constitution. “People in our country fight wars so we can have this justice system.”
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