The parents of a 7-year-old Michigan boy who died weighing 255 pounds are facing murder charges in what authorities describe as a suspected neglect case near Flint.
Damien and Jessica O’Brien have been charged with second-degree murder, torture and child abuse, officials said.
According to affiliate FOX 2 Detroit, emergency crews were dispatched to the O’Briens’ home in November after their son, Casper, stopped breathing.
The child was bedridden, nonverbal and living in squalid conditions, the report said. He later died at a hospital from a heart muscle disease worsened by morbid obesity.
Damien and Jessica O’Brien are charged with second-degree murder, torture and multiple child abuse counts. (Genesee County Sheriff’s Office)
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Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton told the outlet that the conditions inside the home were so extreme that police reported being unable to enter and assist paramedics because there was no space.
Both parents had jobs and health insurance, but neither Casper — whom Leyton described as nonverbal and likely on the autism spectrum — nor his younger sister received medical treatment, according to the report.
Authorities say the parents face charges of second-degree murder, torture and child abuse. (iStock)
“They knew enough to call the veterinarian the very morning the child went into [cardiac arrest] because the dog was sick,” Leyton told FOX 2. “But yet they don’t take the kids to the doctor. [It] doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Casper’s 5-year-old sister, who Leyton described as “feral,” was removed from the home on the day he died by Children’s Protective Services and has been placed into temporary foster care.
