A 7-year-old Michigan boy who weighed 255 pounds when he died last November has become the center of a murder case after prosecutors charged both of his parents with second-degree murder, torture and child abuse.
Casper O'Brien died after first responders were called to the family's home in Flint because he had stopped breathing. His parents, Damien O'Brien, 40, and Jessica O'Brien, 41, were arraigned last week and are being held without bond in the Genesee County jail. A probable cause hearing is set for Thursday, according to ABC News.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said at a press conference Monday that the child had been fed improperly throughout his short life. "Clearly the parents were feeding the child improperly, to say the least," Leyton said. "He wasn't getting the nutrition he needed."
Casper was 4 feet, 2.5 inches tall and medically classified as obese. The Genesee County Medical Examiner's report listed his cause of death as dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart becomes enlarged and weakened and cannot pump blood efficiently. His weight was listed as a contributing condition.
Leyton said authorities believe the boy lived on "a steady diet of snack foods." Casper was nonverbal, bedridden, and had severe bed sores and various rashes. The autopsy report noted that law enforcement and Child Protective Services found piles of trash in the home, and that Casper had never been enrolled in school. Leyton described the hoarding inside the home as "terrible."
Casper's last visit to his primary care provider was in February 2024, when he was diagnosed with a cough, congestion and metabolic disease. At that visit he weighed 104 pounds, and his mother was given information on diet and exercise. He was referred to a pediatric endocrinologist but never saw one, the autopsy report said.
The criminal complaints state that the parents failed to seek treatment for Casper even though the family had health care coverage. One of the three child abuse charges relates to the couple's 5-year-old daughter, who has been placed in foster care.
Elias Fanous, an attorney for Damien O'Brien, said in a statement that he would not speculate on the case's circumstances and that his client was "innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law." An attorney for Jessica O'Brien did not return a request for comment Monday.
"It's a very, very sad and tragic situation," Leyton said.
