Corey Micciolo: Betrayed by The Monster At Home

What is the fifth plan from the Sun? It's made of gas, it's stupidity. What he was and still is my life, my world and my everything. You have this adorable six-year-old boy who dies and he shouldn't have. It's fucked our whole family up, I mean there's no better way to say it. We're not right, we're never going to be right again. We still be alive if I never get that. It's the most important thing in history. This treadmill video surfaces. It's a very disturbing video to watch. And it all comes down to the mother's word against the fathers. I hate you for not letting me say goodbye to my son. But I thank God your face is not the last one he saw. Look at him, look at him. That's not a man, oh my God, I killed my child. That's a man, oh my God, my child is dead. [Music] Stafford Township, New Jersey, Christopher Greger, brings his six-year-old son, Corey Mitchellow, to the emergency room. The child was in great distress. He arrives at the hospital, he takes that young child, Corey. He throws him over his shoulder, runs into the hospital, looking for them to tend to him immediately. The child was lethargic and nauseous. So they bring him in for a CAT scan to try and see what's going on internally with that child. Unfortunately during that process, the child went into cardiac arrest and they weren't able to resuscitate. Ultimately, Corey was pronounced dead around 5pm on April 2nd of 2021. Corey's father steps outside the room and seems to have some kind of an emotional reaction to it. You can see his hands on his head, you can see him bending over, and then he leaves. And the question that everyone is asking is, what happened to Corey Mitchellow? Corey was always a happy kid. He was very artistic. He loved outer space. He liked playing sports. He loved playing with his friends. He was just a very happy kid before everything happened. Here we go. Sorry guys. Corey was playing with his little bay blades. He just wanted to pretend he was making a YouTube video for his friends. And I recorded him. If you all be rude the lighter you have to do it this way. Look at my style. Corey was funny. He was a little jokester. He was loving, caring. He always liked to help others, very kind, considerate. He loved to draw. He was just a happy, good kid. This is my fence. Nice. Turn the button to subscribe our video. We were probably closer than most. Most grandparents with a grandchild because Brianna lived with us with Corey. My most fond memories of Corey were when I would get him by myself. Like if he would wake up I would always say to him, come get Jima when you wake up. Don't wake up mommy because then I could be with him alone. You know, and I could just eat him up for a little bit. And we would just snuggle and he'd play with my phone and we'd watch something on TV. So guys, this is my mommy. My relationship with Corey, we were very close. I feel like a mother and son bond is like unbreakable. We went through a lot together. I was 17 when I had him. So like I grew up with him. We were very close. He loved to dance. I have so many like silly videos of him dancing to music. Corey would always make silly faces. I have so many pictures of that. He always joked a lot. This is, I call it my memorial shrine to Corey and to his uncle Gino. A lot of these items here were sent to us from people all over the world. You know, just as for Corey members. Some of these things were on Corey's grave for a long time. And then I've retired them from there and brought them home. I like to just look at it and remember them. I feel like they're here. It just don't want them to be forgotten. They were both unique people and they deserve to be remembered. While I'm here, it needs to be here. We just need to remember them. And there's like little things that were Corey's there. Like there's a bay blade that was his that he played with. His yearbook, a COVID mask, a COVID mask. Yeah, we just need to be here and we haven't thrown anything out. We have his clothes. We have his Easter basket from the year he passed that he never got. I've been staring at that little, it's like a PlayStation controller. But it was like a key change. I remember it because the night before he passed at the hospital, he kept like pushing it and it would make this noise and it was really annoying. And now it doesn't work anymore, but it just pops out to me. And the Rubik's Cube is a very fond memory to me because it kind of represents Gino and Corey because they both loved it. I think Gino got Corey into it. He put a larger Rubik's Cube in Corey's basket when he passed and that kind of makes me happy when I look at that happy but sad. Certain things have different meaning and some make you happy, some not so happy. That's fucked our whole family up. I mean, there's no better way to say it. We're not right. We're never going to be right again. I don't claim to be okay. I'm not okay. On the day the Corey died, Detective Dennis Mitchell from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office is alerted. He's made aware of a child's death at Southern Ocean Medical Center. I was advised that a six-year-old boy that was identified as Corey Mitchell who presented to the hospital at approximately 3.45 pm and he was pronounced dead at approximately 503 pm. Shortly thereafter, approximately 20 minutes or so, the victim's father identified as Christopher Greger left the hospital. The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office was notified myself, along with other members of this office, responded. And we started to conduct the investigation into the death of Corey Mitchell. Now the next morning, Detective Dennis Mitchell observes the post-mortem examination of Corey. And this is conducted by medical examiner, Dr. Dante Regassa. Dr. Regassa determined the cause of death of Corey Mitchell to be blunt impact injuries to the heart and liver, as well as sepsis as a contributing factor. You know, having to perform an autopsy on a child in and of itself is horrible. But what it does also is it reveals some very important but disturbing details in this case. The first step in any investigation is looking at the victim's body, seeing if there's anything that his body is going to tell us about what led him to be in this position. In Corey's case, it was the bruising that was in varying areas of his body that was of great concern to us, specifically bruising that didn't seem to align with any type of accidental injury. The matter of death matters immensely when it comes to a homicide investigation because unless the matter of death is homicide, you don't have a homicide investigation. In this case, the matter was undetermined. What that means to us is we need to provide the doctor with more information about the attendant circumstances of the victim's death. In this case, provide a detailed timeline of the events surrounding the death of Corey Mitchell. Very few cases are designated undetermined. A lot of times when we would do these child death reviews, those were the ones that we flagged as we need to look at these very, very carefully. We have a child who is deceased, who died of some injuries. The first thing you want to do as an investigator in this case is get the timeline down. And as precise as you possibly can, you can start ruling people in and ruling people out. They have to look at, was this an accident? And if it wasn't an accident, how did it happen and who was responsible? So, you know, they want to be objective in their approach, they want to be comprehensive, they want to be careful. So what are you going to do? First of all, you're going to interview the parents. Now Corey was in the care of his mother, Brianna Michelo, from midnight to 9 a.m. From 9 a.m. to 3.30 p.m., he was in the care of his father, Christopher Greger. - The timeline is extremely important. When we know that an injury occurred on April 2nd and we don't know exactly what time it happened, we don't know exactly what happened. Formulating a timeline is extremely important. It's important in that we're able to see what people are doing before and after the event. And even more so than that, we're able to see what people aren't doing. We're able to see where people are deviating from that normal human behavior and how a parent would react in this situation. Detective Dennis Mitchell interviews Brianna and she agrees to speak with him without an attorney present. - During our conversation with Brianna, we learn about the history of Corey. We learn about the history of Christopher Greger. When Greger comes into Corey's life and how things start to shift at that point. In fact, she responds with a binder full of paperwork that included medical records and DCP and P records. - The interview with Dennis Mitchell, it was hard because a couple hours before they just told me Corey passed, I could barely like form a sentence. He was very nice, but he was trying to get information. I remember like he just asked for my phone. I'm like here in the password. I just, I wanted to help as much as I could. I'm like, you need to go look for Chris. I'll tell you whatever you need and go find Chris. - Christopher Greger met Brianna Mitchell-o at a house party in Monroe Township. At the time, Brianna was 16 years old. Christopher was, I believe, 19 or 20 at the time. That's when their relationship began and from what we gathered throughout the investigation. That is when Corey Mitchell-o was conceived. Their relationship as the pregnancy progressed kind of deteriorated. Chris separated himself from Brianna. - His grandparents were very involved in his life, having such young parents. Brianna's family in particular took care of him for the first portion of his life. Christopher Greger found out he was Corey's father approximately two years prior to Corey's death. It came about as a result of Brianna applying to the state for benefits for Corey. When she was applying for these benefits, she was asked to disclose the father's name, which she disclosed as Christopher Greger. The state trying to verify this information reached out to Christopher Greger and at some point, a paternity test was ordered by the state. - Christopher had no relationship with Brianna. None whatsoever. He had met her initially at a party. They must have gotten to know each other very well because five years later, he was tapped as the father of this child. He didn't remember her. He took a paternity test and lo and behold, he was Corey's father. So he went from living in Baltimore, teaching in Baltimore, going to Johns Hopkins University to stopping all of that and moving back to New Jersey to take care of a child. He just found out that he was the father of. - Corey was five when Christopher became more involved. Chris started coming around. I think Corey wanted to have a relationship that you would think you would have with a dad. But he didn't get it. I think Corey feared him very early on, but I think Corey was hopeful. - Throughout her life and during the life of Corey, Brianna struggled with some addiction which she fought to overcome through rehab programs. The custody arrangement for Corey between Brianna and Chris, it varied through the years. Initially, Brianna had full custody. At one point, she lost custody again due to her addiction. Her mother, Rebecca, assumes full custody at one point. As Chris came into the picture, the two of them ultimately shared joint custody with Chris Gregor having primary residential custody of Corey Mitchell and Brianna having visitation rights. - When Corey first came into Christopher's life, he was overweight. He had learning difficulties. He was not doing well in school. Christopher moved into his family home. It took care of Corey on a daily basis. As a result of that, Dave Gregor went into his garage. He pulled out all of the old baseball equipment from his children, the basketball stuff, the football stuff. They made a room in their house for the six-year-old child that they were now bringing home to them. And they created a new life for this grandson and son as a result of Christopher and his family. He became athletic. He was actually competitive in sports and doing very well in school and communicating very well. He was one of the top students and very well-liked by not only the teachers, but also by the other students. So Corey, as a result of Christopher coming into his life, had changed drastically from the life he had previous to that. Corey's relationship with his father. I would describe it as rocky because Corey looked up to him still. He wanted to be like him, and he loved him. But he also was being abused by him. So when you're a kid, you don't understand what's going on. You still love the person that's doing it. During Brianna's interview with Detective Mitchell, she's informed that her mother, Rebecca, has retained an attorney on her behalf. But despite that, Brianna insists she wants to continue speaking without an attorney president. We asked her if she would provide us with consent to search her home, which she did. We learned that Corey stayed in the basement of the residence with Brianna when he was there. So that was our primary focus in regards to that residence. Looking around her room and Corey's room, it was neat and orderly. There was nothing of real concern. There was nothing that would jump out at us to show us that this child was mistreated in any way while in this home. It's at this point that police then interview Brianna's mother, Corey's grandmother, Rebecca Mitchell. In every homicide investigation, anyone that had contact with our victim is a suspect until they're not. In this case, we look at both the mother, the father, the grandmother, anyone else who had contact with Corey in the days and hours prior to his death. Rebecca Mitchell voiced some concerns for child abuse, telling us about specific incidents that occurred from the time that Chris was first present in Corey's life, and the injuries that occurred thereafter up until the time that he died. When Corey was going to meet David and Carolyn Greger, Chris's parents, the arrangement was Corey was going to spend a few hours. It was the first time he was meeting the Greger family, so it got to be around the time Chris was supposed to drop him back off and he didn't come back. And I text and call David Greger's phone number. He said, Corey's going to spend the night. I said, well, no, that's not day arrangement that was made, so I'd appreciated that Chris could bring him back home. Chris dropped him at the bottom of our driveway. Corey walked through the garage, and when he got into the light, he had a busted lip, blood on his shirt, his shorts. Ray said, oh, what happened? And he said, he didn't want to talk about it. So, of course, I called Chris. I called David Greger. I text, you know, Corey came home and a busted lip and blood all over his clothes did something happen. Nobody answered, so that's when we called the police department and went there, and then turned, called GCPMP. That was the first time that I remember. We were able to extrapolate information from the DCP and P reports and corroborate what she's saying with what we're seeing in these reports. DCP and P stands for the Division of Child Protection and Permanency. This is the agency that is tasked with investigating reports of child abuse and child neglect in the state of New Jersey. There were a number of referrals to DCP and P, some named Christopher Greger as the alleged perpetrator. I think there was maybe one or two that listed Rebecca as the alleged perpetrator, none of which listed Brianna as being suspected of abusing Corey. We have to take all of these things with a grain of salt, especially given the circumstances, where now we seem to have this custody battle over a six-year-old, where they're throwing allegations back and forth at each other. We're not able to tell just based on these reports what's true and what's not, because a number of these were deemed to be unfounded by DCP and P. Digging further into these allegations of abuse, Detective Mitchell decides to speak with Christopher Greger's parents, David and Carolyn. They showed some concern for abuse, but more so, they wanted to talk to us about the allegations of abuse. As far as they were concerned, that's all it was merely accusations. There was no actual abuse occurring. They showed concern for their son, given the situation that was occurring in that they were alerted to the death of their grandson by their son Christopher, and when they arrived at the hospital, Chris had already left. They made us aware of a text message that he sent them shortly after leaving the hospital. He said to them that he didn't plan on returning for a while and asked them to take care of his dog. When Christopher texted his parents, that he's going away for a while, and please take care of my dog. Those comments suggest he was going away, and he was not coming back. After seeing these alarming text messages, that's when detectives obtain a search warrant for Christopher Greggers residents. When we look at Christopher Greggers' home in comparison to Brianna's home, we're seeing two very different parents. When we're looking up Brianna's home, we're seeing pictures of Cory everywhere on the wall, we're seeing sonograms, things that you would expect to find in a mother's home. When we look at Christopher Greggers' home, we're seeing very few, if any, pictures of Cory, we're seeing an apartment of what looks like a bachelor with workouts, supplements everywhere. Cory did have a specific bedroom in Christopher's house, which was as you would expect a six-year-old's bedroom to be, a twin-size bed, a desk for him to do his schoolwork and painting, there was nothing of real concern until we started to look through the trash. We delayered his garbage, at the very top of his garbage was a McDonald's bag with a receipt. Underneath that McDonald's wrapper was something very unsettling to investigators, soiled clothing belonging to Cory. We would expect that a parent, when their six-year-old child is vomiting and defecating themselves, that they would bring them into a bathroom and clean them off, they would take their clothes and clean their clothes. When we're seeing someone like Christopher Gregger, who is now taking his son's clothes and not only putting them in the garbage, but putting them in the garbage under other garbage, as if to conceal them, we're looking at that behavior as highly suspicious. Here's the thing though, investigators still can't get in touch with Christopher Gregger. So Detective Mitchell speaks with the attending nurses at the hospital where Cory died, and they too noticed something odd. They alerted me to the fact that he left the hospital in a very rushed manner, panicky. As a result, we were able to review surveillance video from the hospital. We were able to identify the vehicle and the license plate, and we put out an alert to all police agencies that we were looking to get in contact with him. We're looking to find out where he's going because he is the last person that's with Cory while he's alive. [CHATTER] [MUSIC PLAYING] Two days after Cory's death, Detective Mitchell is notified that Christopher Gregger is stopped in his vehicle by police in Alcoa, Tennessee. They pulled him over in Tennessee because there was a bulletin put out on his car. He cooperated with them. [CHATTER] Christopher reaction to the death of Cory was dramatic. He didn't know what to do. He had this perfectly healthy child two days ago, and then now that child is dead. And he was upset. He called his parents. He ran out of the hospital. His mother told us that he was inconsolable. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] I forget. I was like, Arkansas, or Texas. [INAUDIBLE] I get to use my brothers in California. I'm going to go visit him. I love that. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] He was driving to his brother's house. He wanted to be by his brother. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] I mean, if I was, I wouldn't be that American. For the rest of me, yes, like him. I mean, for the state of my country. Alcoa police, and speaking with Christopher, they inquire as to why he left the area, specifically New Jersey. He provides several explanations, one of which that he was going to visit his brother in California. Another was that he needed to go clear his head because he was afraid that he was going to go do or say something to deceed in his mother that he wasn't supposed to. He tells them that he just went for a ride, and that when he was stopped, he was actually on his way back to New Jersey. For the same time, you can come clear everything out, well, well, we're doing all this. I don't actually think you guys would know if there was a warrant to switch seats with that. We reviewed all that footage, and what we're seeing on there is someone who isn't acting the way you would expect. Given the circumstances and the situation he was in, we're seeing somebody that's joking, somebody that's smiling, that's deflecting. Not someone that appears to be grieving their six-year-old son. I'm freaking out right now because there's so many asses or others. Dude, are you very good at it now? What's your rescue, too? And there's a lot of future. So you know I don't know. I just need to be around. Like, those guys can't do teachers, but I don't know. [INAUDIBLE] Any time that someone flees town immediately after someone's death, that immediately sets off a red flag in our minds, that this is someone or something that we need to look further into, that behavior could be easily explainable, or that could show consciousness of guilt. I had a slight call. As you can see that, it's just like, you know, at this point, if everything's going on in this now, I'm like, look, a little freaked out. In his conversation with Alcoe Police Department, he does tell them a little bit about what happened with Corrie about the doctors. They're not going to be caught in some other way. It's going to be something I'd get, you know, not get a chance to play with the soldier. I knew when you got home, and knew something was wrong with my gun, but I just thought, you know, I'm looking for everything. Maybe you can sleep. No, you know, I'm sure it's not going to work for you. There's a lot of these things, so I know it's partial about all the things that eventually will be in some way. And when you guys should be able to throw every part of it, it's going to still be alive if I've ever been there, it's impossible for me to just run a test and go through my head and scold that. It's just going to be getting up there. She's a special kind of third day. Chris actually says to the police officers that if I never came into Corrie's life, he might still be alive today. In isolation, that might not mean a lot, but when you look at that with the surrounding events, the flight is behavior up to that point. It doesn't sit right. And it leads you to believe that he truly means that if he wasn't there, that Corrie would still be alive. Now authorities end up letting Christopher Greger leave. But then investigators come upon something that changes this entire story. They get critical new evidence. We were first made aware of the treadmill video in speaking with the DCP and P case worker. That was in charge of Corrie's case. He made us aware of an incident that occurred on March 20th of the same year. That incident occurred in the gym of the apartment complex of Chris Greger and that it was on video. He ultimately provided us with that video the following day. If you have small children, you may not want to watch it. [MUSIC PLAYING] It wasn't until the day after Corrie's death on April 3rd that we were actually provided with this video. We see Christopher Greger. He immediately directs Corrie towards the treadmills. Corrie gets on a treadmill. It was unbelievable what this kid could do on a treadmill. He was set world records. After about nine or so minutes of Corrie running on the treadmill at a decent pace, Chris walks over to the treadmill. And you can see his demeanor that it appears that he's yelling at him that he's agitated. He then appears to turn the speed of the treadmill up. As Corrie starts to pick up pace, you can tell that he's struggling to keep up with the speed of the treadmill as it's being increased. You see Christopher kind of move to the back of the treadmill. As Corrie started to go towards the back, unable to keep up with the speed. At this point, we're looking at this video and saying, OK, he's moving to the back. I guess he recognizes he's going to fall, but he's going to be there for him when he falls. What we see is the opposite. We do see Corrie start to fall, start to lose footing. And instead of Chris reaching out his arms, attempting to brace him from hitting the ground or being injured, he actually steps out of the way to allow him to fall and hit the ground. He then picks him up by his shirt, places him on the treadmill in a forcible manner, and appears to open his mouth and bite down on the top. of Cory's head. As that's happening, Cory is unable to keep footing on the treadmill, but Chris is still holding his shirt so he doesn't fall again at that time. He picks him up, allows him to regain his footing and continue running. Let's all keep in mind. This is a six-year-old. When you watch this video, you know that the speed is getting up to 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 miles an hour with this kid because this kid cannot keep up with it. It is running at very close to the top speed. He falls another five times off the back of the treadmill as Chris instructs Cory to go back onto the treadmill from behind to jump onto the moving track, whereas a safer way would be to either turn off the machine or instruct him to step on the sides and grab the handles and then regain his footing that way. So we're seeing the dad almost watch and instruct his kid to hurt himself on this treadmill. It's a chilling video. This is one of the most disturbing things that I've seen. You're watching a helpless six-year-old be abused over and over by his father. You're seeing complete disregard for Cory by his father. You're starting to see inside the mind of Chris because you're seeing who he is when nobody's watching or he thinks nobody's watching. I was horrified. That video is stomach churning for anyone who has known or even cared about a small child because it it would appear that he keeps trying to run on the treadmill and he keeps trying to make his dad happy and he keeps falling. It's heartbreaking to watch. When we're watching the end of that video, we watch them leave the gym from the outside camera. We see Chris come out of the front of the gym and the door starts to close and then shortly after Cory comes almost as if the door is hitting him on the way out. Chris has complete disregard, complete lack of concern or empathy for his son and what he had just gone through seemed to be more focused on his own anger. I noticed Cory had like a bruise on him. He had this big mark on his forearm and Cory told me that Christopher made him run on a treadmill really fast. He was calling him fat and so I immediately filed a complaint with DCPMP. Nearly three months after investigators review that treadmill video, Christopher Greger is arrested. He was charged with second degree in danger in the welfare of a child as a result of that treadmill incident. Subsequent to Christopher's arrest, he appeared in court and was released on bail reform. While the investigation into Cory's death is continuing, Brianna does something. She goes on social media and she creates the group Justice for Cory. Justice for Cory is a Facebook group. I created about three months after he passed after feeling like no one was doing anything. It was just a way to tell everyone what was going on and put pressure on the prosecutor's office. We started planning rallies. We'd stand outside the prosecutor's office or DCPMP with like 50 people and signs. It was just started to advocate for Cory for him to get justice. Justice for Cory was a Facebook page that was created by Brianna Micholo to basically vilify Christopher Greger and the Greger family and yet the world she had hundreds thousands of followers from all over the world to vilify the Greger family. It turned out to be this vigilante justice system to destroy the Greggers. While all of this is happening in the public eye, there is something going on behind the scenes in the investigation. They are looking very closely at Greger's phone. We're looking deeper into cell phone data, expanding the scope of our investigation to get even a bigger picture of what's happening. We all have our cell phones on us 24/7 and if you want to get the clearest picture at somebody's life, you look at their cell phone because that's where their most unfiltered depiction of themselves is going to be. In this case his search history was particularly relevant. He's searching things shortly after Cory died that are abnormal and suspicious. He's searching things like can my phone be tracked in airplane mode, can my car be tracked? How long after in all the tops he can murder charges be filed? So it's starting to paint more of a picture of who Christopher Greger is because we're getting that raw unfiltered, uncensored version of him in his phone. Prior to Cory's death, one of the searches that was conducted on Chris Greger's phone was in reference to red marks and if they will turn to bruises. When you look at the circumstances surrounding it, you're starting to see that consciousness of guilt. I did think it was Chris and I told that to Detective Dennis Mitchell. Dennis Mitchell took a lot of shit from us in the beginning. We used to call him like every day just telling him off. Are you even doing your job constantly and I'm like just asking all these questions, bashing him and he would take it and be like listen I'm doing what I can. I think he did a very good job. I think he cares about Cory. I mean I had never dealt with anything like this before so I just felt like things weren't happening quick enough and I would let him know that. Based upon the investigation to that point and the injuries that we were seeing we decided to reach out to a expert in pediatric pathology specifically in child abuse and ask him to review the case. We reached out to Dr. Andrew in September of 2021. In March of 2022 Dr. Andrew returns a finding that Cory's cause of death was blunt for us injuries to the heart and liver and that the manner of death was homicide. In addition to that cause of death Dr. Andrew also lists a contributing factor to Cory Mitchell's death as ongoing child abuse. I knew Christopher would kill Cory. I told DCP and the police any police department that would listen to me which nobody ever did. I said that he was going to kill him if they didn't do something so when it happened I didn't know it was going to be that day but I knew it could happen. Almost one year after Cory Mitchell's death Christopher Greger is arrested and charged with Cory's murder. When Dr. Andrew returned his opinion we finally were able to have a doctor say that but for someone else's actions this child would still be alive and at that point it allowed us to charge Christopher with his son's death. There were two separate charges on two separate dates. The allegation was done on March 20th of 2021. The treadmill incident led to the endangerment of welfare of a child and then he was charged on April 2nd some 12 days later with the murder now of Cory so the initial incident was the endangering the second was the April 2nd murder. Neither one of those things had anything to do with each other and that's why we made what you call a motion to sever and that is a motion to say that he's going to be prejudiced by the treadmill case and the murder case being tried together because everybody knew that the treadmill had absolutely nothing to do with his death in April and that if the jury was seeing the treadmill and that together that it would lead them to one conclusion so we made a motion to sever which was denied and we proceeded to trial on both counts. Oh my god I didn't believe it because it took almost a year for that to happen. I felt like a weight was kind of lifted off my shoulders because for a whole year we were outside rallying at various places begging them to arrest him and just asking for answers because if they're not arresting him do they think he didn't do something to him then what happened to Cory so it just validated everything for us. For the charge of first-degree murder of his son Cory Michelo he could face up to life in prison. One of the biggest hurdles in this investigation specifically is that typically in a homicide investigation you know exactly how someone was killed you know what happened when it happened. Here we're given a period of time where an injury occurred and we don't know exactly how Gregor inflicted that injury upon Cory so we spend that time trying to determine exactly what that injury was and how it was. was inflicted, as well as the events surrounding that injury. It makes us focus more on the outside of that injury that timeline to get as detailed as we possibly can. Members of the jury, the defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charges. As the judges of the facts, you are to determine the credibility of the witnesses and determine whether a witness is worthy of belief and therefore credible. So more than three years after Cory Mitchell's death, Christopher Greger finally goes to trial in Ocean County, New Jersey. And he faces one charge of endangering the welfare of a child for the treadmill incident and one charge of murder for the death of Cory. And by the way, if convicted, he faces a sentence of life in prison. Cory, Travis, Mitchell, you like the solar system, you like to play outside. His mom describes him as silly and happy. Cory was six on April 2nd, 2021, when his father murdered him. His father is this defendant, Christopher Greger. This case is about Cory and how Cory became the ultimate victim of this defendant's punishment and abuse. The prosecutors, Christine Lento and Jamie Schroen, they were amazing and I love that they were women because Chris hates women. Cory was alive and well at 9 a.m. when he was with his mom and he was gone by 5.03 p.m. They're only being with his father, this defendant. The state submits that after you've heard and seen all 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 during the course of a business day and neither Cory Mitchell out. So I thought the prosecution's case with the murder charge was weak at best. They had no proof that Christopher had done anything to Cory on the days from April 1st into April 2nd that he wasn't even in his custody, care or control. Brianna had him for the 40 hours prior to bringing him to Christopher's house. So I thought it was going to be very difficult for them to tie Christopher into the murder. "This is kid, no child should die, no child should die, but it's not murder." Getting a testimony from Dr. Andrew who is a forensic pathologist I believe from New Hampshire, you're going to hear from our expert Dr. Michael Botton who's here in New York and they both completely disagree on the result of Cory's death. Dr. Botton, supported by medical records, is going to testify that Cory died from sepsis as a result of pneumonia, natural causes, that the bruises from March 20th had absolutely nothing to do with his death. He wanted to say Cory died of pneumonia and sepsis. I was shocked because I'm like, I was with him a couple hours before and he wasn't sick. So how can you even, and there's no medical record saying that he was sick? You're going to see that on March 20th Christopher takes that young boy into a gym and in that gym you're going to see Christopher go over to that treadmill and speed it up and you're going to see Cory fall and you're going to see him pick that boy up six times and six times put him back on the treadmill and I'm going to tell you right now you're not going to like him and I don't care if you like him. When you see that video you are going to be horrified but I'm telling you right now that the evidence you're going to see of Cory's death had absolutely nothing to do with that treadmill. The treadmill video was going to be horrible and I knew that so I opened on it. When I saw that video I was horrified. The second time I saw that video I was horrified, the 2,000th time I saw that video I was horrified so I needed to blunt that. Since the timeline of events is so important in this case the prosecution needs to start with a strong witness and the first witness they call is Brianna Mitchell. Brianna, on March 20th of 2021 at approximately 415 did you drop off Cory to his father at the clubhouse gym at the Atlantic Heights Park in Poplar? Yes, what was the defendant's demeanor when he let Cory into the gym at that point in time? He was very angry. The prosecution played the treadmill video for the court. The jury was just as horrified as every other person that watched that video for the first time. I saw their faces. I think one woman actually turned her head away. He's picking him up by the top of his shoulders and shirt and you can see Cory's legs that he does not want to get back on that treadmill. He treats him like a rad doll, right? He's picking him up. His legs are swinging. This is what the defendant does while he's trying to play Cory on a moving treadmill. The defendant bites Cory's head. What kind of father would do this to their son? Brianna, who is the child located in that video? Um, that's Cory. And how old was Cory in that video? He was six. And who was the adult male located in that video, the defendant? I saw the treadmill video for the first time, a week before the child. They offered to show me it for a while and I didn't want to see it. And if I had the choice, I'd want to watch it. It's traumatizing, definitely, to see someone picking up like a 60 pound kid and buy the back of his shirt and then biting him. Especially when it's your kid, you're like, what the fuck, like it's, it's traumatizing. You know, what a piece of shit. If you can do that to a kid, you can kill them, definitely. The most important thing is to prove who had access to the child when, thus who could have inflicted these injuries. The liver didn't lacerate itself. The heart didn't lacerate itself. This is not something that just spontaneously occurs in children. So someone must be responsible for it. So the timeline is what was the most important. And frankly, that video was incredibly important. While you were with Cory, did you see any bruises on him? I did. And can you describe for the jurors the bruises that you saw? He had a bruise on his forehead and it was very odd shapes and it kind of looked like an imprint of something. And besides that bruise, did you see another bruise? He had one on his chest, it looked like a screen. What was Cory's demeanor when you spoke to him about the bruises that you saw? He just seemed upset and scared. Seeing the bruising on his body was shocking. I believe there were about 14 scratches, abrasions, contusions, all over his body. The prosecutor then asks Brianna about this additional bruising that she saw on Cory a few days later. Well Cory was at your home after the flag football triad. What if any bruising did you see to his body? He had a large bruise on his chest. He had, it looked like fingerprints, bruises, all over his arms and legs. He had a very, it was very large on his hip, on his side. What type of contact was allowed for first gray flag football? It's no contact. Brianna Mitchellow was very concerned with bruising that she found on Cory's body. She was seeing bruising in places that you normally wouldn't expect to find it on a child. As a result, she reaches out to DCP and P regarding these bruises and her concern, who instruct her to go to a pediatrician which she ultimately does. Calling your attention to March 31 of 2021, did you file an emergent application for full a whole host of you. Hurry with the family. court. Yes. And can you tell the jurors why you did this? I was in fear for Cory's life. I filed for temporary full custody and taking away all of Chris's time with Cory and rights until the DC PNP investigation was over. My thought was just get Cory away from Christopher so it can't abuse him anymore until you know DC PNP can they can't charge but they can you know take him away like fully take away his rights so that's why I went and filed. On April 1st 2021 Brianna Mitchell-Low learns that her application was denied still being concerned for this bruising Rebecca and Brianna make an appointment for Cory Mitchell-Low to see a pediatrician in Tonja. Brianna at the time was allotted three hours to spend time with her son Cory that was her visitation for that week so Brianna Mitchell-Low is taking her three hours that particular week to take her son to the doctor. The prosecution calls up Dr. Nancy Deacon. This is the pediatrician who examined Cory on April 1st. Could you take me through the observations that were on Cory's body that you documented? So I'm going to start the head and work my way down front side of his body first. Present on his left forehead was what I described as pink granulation tissue with a tiny scab. Second there was a blue gray bruise over his left cheek and I'm pointing to the the bone right here on his left side of his face. While at the pediatrician Dr. Deacon reviewed Cory's body and she actually completed the diagram with the different bruises that were happening on Cory's body as well as the different stages of healing that they were in so we were able to see that these bruises didn't happen from one particular event that these bruises that happened seemingly at all different times was something that was ongoing in his life. 14 was another large yellow green bruise and it was located at the waist. My assessment was numerous bruises with different stages of healing. There were bruises that you could explain with falling with the play that children do and then there's areas over soft tissue that takes more of a blow to have that size of a bruise and that kind of injury it takes a bigger harder force. The bruising on Cory's body was from far more than just the treadmill incident. It says here this is Joe Cory says he got his chest on hip bruises of far head bruises was playing football outside on turf number one he said that his dad was teaching him how to catch a football number two but I pressed him firmly he said he had more bruises 25 from the treadmill to me that's great. My impression what he was talking about was playing football with his dad he wasn't described that way but that was my impression. Cory for the first time discloses to someone other than a family member that there may be some abuse that's going on between him and his father. Specifically he tells Dr. Nancy Deacon he receives some of these bruises on his body as a result of falling off of a treadmill and that he had to do so because his father thinks he's too fat. So I did not document exactly what I said to Cory. And as a matter of fact 10 minutes before this jury walked into this room did you testify to hearing in this courtroom and did you at any time during that questioning before the jury was in this room say anything about that you had a prompt Cory you had an encourage him he was reluctant to answer the questions did you say that one time? I thought I said he was reluctant when I asked him he hesitated I believe that's what I said he hesitated I didn't say in the record that he hesitated I said just what he said and you can't tell anybody here when they occurred or how they occurred no I can just describe what I saw. There was no abuse prior to the treadmill there was no abuse allegation after the treadmill and we were able to demonstrate that he got the bruises from playing football and from being typical six-year-old boy. The DCP and P worker as well as Dr. Deacon seeing these bruises coupling it with the information that was just provided by Cory recommended to Brianna that she'd take Cory to Jersey Shore University Medical Center where they have a pediatric's division that specializes in child abuse and a specific doctor that specializes in child abuse. But when Brianna arrives at the emergency room a child abuse specialist is not at the hospital. They did blood work they did x-rays they said he was fine but you know Cory told them that Chris was making him run on the treadmill and hurting him so they just made an appointment for the next day with a forensic abuse expert. Here's the thing though after being examined by multiple doctors outside of the bruises Cory appears to be in good health. After the hospital we were discharged at about one a.m. We got home like 130. We went to sleep. Did you offer to bring Cory home back to Barnaget after Jersey Shore Medical Center? Yes. And did the defendant ever respond to your request to do this? No. Was there a scheduled appointment for April 2nd for Cory to see a CPC pediatric specialist? Yes. Did the defendant cancel this appointment? Yes. Could you take Cory to see the specialist without the defendant? No he wouldn't allow it. What time did you and Cory wake up the next morning? Around 7-30. When Cory woke up did you dress him? Yes. What did you dress Cory in? I put him in a sweatshirt jeans and sneakers. And what about his underwear? They were blue underwear. And what was the condition of the clothes that you dressed Cory in? They were clean. Breonna of course was a doding loving mother but the one thing to me as a parent that stuck out was she remembered exactly what she dressed him in. When he was going over to his father's house I mean down to blue underwear. That is a salient fact for all the rest of the parents that are on the jury. When you went upstairs to eat breakfast in the kitchen who was there? My mom and her boyfriend Richie. And did Cory have breakfast? Yes. And did he eat? He did. And do you remember what he ate? He ate a bagel and a gover. Were you with Cory the entire time that he was eating breakfast? Yes. And can you tell the jurors what was Cory's physical condition in the morning when he was eating breakfast? He was okay. The last time my cell Cory was April 2nd he ate breakfast and he was getting ready to go back to his dads. I tried to get him to take my phone with him and hide it. And I told him when daddy starts beating you to call me or call the police and he said he couldn't. I told him to make a lot of noise to get a neighbor and he said he couldn't. I don't know why but I said well just be a good boy which was probably making him think that he wasn't and that's why this was happening. I didn't know what else to say and I didn't think that that would be the last time I would see Cory but it was. Can you please tell the jurors what the defendant texted you including the date and the time of the text message? Yes. On 4/2/21 at 8.37 am he said I mean considering you did kidnap my son for an entire day and night the minimum that is happening is an entire day and night is going to be removed from your next visit maximum. Hopefully the courts will agree with my application this morning and you will lose all rights. And about what time did you get to the apartment complex to drop off? Where did that work? Around 9 am. And when you got there where was the defendant's car? I'm not sure it wasn't there. And did you text the defendant asking where he was? Yes. And what did the defendant say to you in regard to where he was? He said he was home. And Cory had left the car. Did you provide Cory with a piece of paper? I did. It was a paper from the hospital that had information so the defendant could look at his records. And why did you do that? I was just being nice. Did you speak to Cory in the car before you sent him into the defendants' home? I did. Was that the last time that you spoke to Cory? Yes. I took him to Christopher's house. And it was odd because I pulled up and Christopher's car wasn't there. Like it always is. You know, I had a conversation with Cory. Like, "Oh, I don't think your dad's here." And he's like, "So I don't have to go." And I was like, "No, you have to go." And then Chris texted me saying, "Have Cory come in?" So I kissed Cory. I told him, "I love him." And we kissed and he went inside. The prosecutor then asks Brianna about the text messages that she received from the defendant after she dropped Cory off. And by the way, these are messages that Gregor later deletes from his phone. Starting with the top message, can you please help the jury about your conversation with the defendant? Yes. At 9.40 a.m., I said, "Stop being so cocky." If I were you, I definitely wouldn't be. He said, "Yes, I am a ludicrous charge by you that when you went to court yesterday was completely thrown out and disregarded." He said, "Show's how much evidence there is doesn't it? You're going to be in for a rude awakening today." When Christopher's phone was downloaded, he believed that he had deleted all of the text messages with Brianna. Unfortunately, Brianna had not deleted them from her phone. And she gave up her phone quite readily to police and allowed them to download the entire thing. So all of the text messages with Christopher and Brianna were obtained by the prosecution. What is the next time that you heard from the defendant on April 2, 2021? We're around 3.30. What did the defendant tell you about Cory? He was lethargic. His legs were hurting. He was sleeping all day. He was throwing up and just didn't feel good. And then he told me, "You send Cory's insurance card to him." And did you send the defendant Cory's insurance card? I did. And did the defendant say anything about taking Cory to the hospital? Yes. And did the defendant tell you what hospital he was taking Cory to? No. Was that the last time that you had spoken to the defendant on that day? Yes. At that time, what did you do? I started calling the hospitals to see if Cory was there. I told my mom and we started calling all the hospitals in the area. And they all said he wasn't there. So I called the police and reported him missing. And she finally got a call back from one of the hospitals and they said that he was there. So I was on my way out to go to the hospital to see him and two cops knocked on the door. The way I was informed was him asking me how long my son has been dead for. So that's how I found out. And I was like, "Whose? Not mine. Mine, I have a six-year-old." Now on Cross, the defense goes quite hard after Brianna's credibility. And they really are focusing on her struggles with addiction. So there comes a point in January 220. We're going to have an issue with drugs. Yes. And at that point, you lose custody of Cory. Yes. And what was the drug you used? A methamphetamine. And did you go to rehab at that point? I went to a drug program, yes. Now on 4-2-21, at one time, did Christopher ask you to send him the insurance money? Around 330. Do you remember in this Facebook chat at about 349 p.m. asking a person's name to bring me a bump? Yes. So that's did they Cory died? It was. And you're asking to bring you a methamphetamine? Yes. I actually, that day I didn't do it. Okay. But you wanted to do it. Oh, and yeah, I was very upset about my son being abused. So on the day that you are complaining that your son was allegedly abused by Christopher, you're asking me to bring you a methamphetamine? I did. Okay. Oh, the cross-examination of how it was brutal. I actually had to stop myself at one point. I thought I was going too far. I got somewhat into hard drug addiction, her demons. I was allowed to, because it goes right to her credibility. Incredibility is always an issue. She describes Christopher Greggers last moments with Cory. When Cory was initially in room six of the emergency room, what was the defendant's demeanor? He was shown lack of emotion. And what was happening with Cory's condition at this time? Cory was not breathing. His heart was not beating. He was basically dead at that point. He had approximately 451, did the defendant re-enter the room? He did, at that point, yes. Were you present at that point inside of room six with Cory? Yes, I was. And what was Cory's condition at that time? His heart was not beating, and he was not breathing. Did the defendant exit room six? He did. Did the defendant then ever come back to room six again? No, he did not. And who stayed with Cory? We did. We were the only ones with him. Christopher did not leave the hospital, prior to Cory passing. He was told that Cory passed. The prosecution in the case said that he didn't emote enough. I don't know if they're experts in emoting, who is able to tell somebody how to emote and how not to emote. He can't even get in the room. Look at him. Look at him. That's what they called under emoting. They had to get him a chair. He is inconsolable. That's not a man. Oh my God, I killed my child. That's a man. Oh my God, my child is dead. Did you just watch the video? I did, I saw the video. Okay. But you saw the video. Did you see him cry? I saw him cry. Did you show him emotion? Yeah. Did you see him upset? I guess. Did you see him having to sit in the chair? Did you see people have to come to the aid? Did you see him put up privacy screens? Yeah. You saw all that, right? Yeah. Yeah. But you did it in this case, right? Yeah. Okay. So he was not emotionless. You had lack of emotion? Okay. Okay. David Greger, the defendant's father, is called by the defense. But April 2nd, did you hear from Christopher? I did. What was Christopher's demeanor during that conversation? Historical. Which is the next time you heard from him. Few months later, he was inconsolable. He just lost his son. You spoke to your son while you were driving down to the hospital in Stafford, right? Correct. And when you spoke to your son, you told your son that you were going to contact the police, correct? I did. And when you got to the hospital, after you had told your son that you were going to contact the police, your son wasn't there at the hospital, correct? He wasn't in the emergency room now. And when you got to the hospital, Cory was there by himself without any family member, correct? That's correct. They want to let my wife and I in. And in the time between, from when your son left until you got there, Cory was alone in the hospital without any family member, correct? As far as I know. From the moment you met Cory until the moment Christopher moved to barricade, did you ever see Christopher, mistreat, abuse or hit Cory? Never. Have you watched the treadmill video? No. Okay, why not? Because I don't want to see. I don't want that to be my remembrance of Cory, that he was mistreated in that single instance on the treadmill. Forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas Andrew, who specializes in pediatrics, is then called by the prosecution. Do you have an opinion after you review all of this material in regard to the incidence cause of death? Yes. Cory died of blunt impact injuries of the chest and abdomen. With laceration of the heart, left home. culinary contusion, elaceration and contusion of the liver. - Did you formulate a opinion as to the student's matter of death? - Cory's manner of death is homicide. In Cory's case, these injuries given their pattern and distribution are consistent with having been inflicted by another person. So Cory's death was at the hands of another person, therefore it is homicide. - I think Andrew is the critical witness in this case. He's the one who first determines it was blunt force trauma and abuse that led to the injuries that led to the death. Two particular findings that he talked about in his report are the lacerations to the liver and the heart. - So he's got a partial fitness care of the heart inside the left foot. - Now doctor, can you tell the jurors about the severity of the tear and the relation to thickness? - This is a severe injury. This is an injury that triggered Cory's death. This laceration didn't go all the way through the heart muscle. It's not a hole in the heart. - A tear that goes through the heart. In this instance, in that it was partial thickness, his heart could at least for some hours. Compensate for this injury. So that's how this injury mediates his death. The heart tries to compensate for the injury decompensates and he sustains a cardiac arrest due to his trauma. - Now the defense calls their own medical expert. The world renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Bodden. Some of Dr. Bodden's investigations include the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy. He's a big deal. - Now doctor, there's been a lot made about an injury to Cory's heart in the Medical Examiner's report. I believe it's described as one and a half inch laceration to the heart. Do you have an opinion as to how that one and a half inch laceration to the heart occurred? - My opinion is that that laceration occurred from continuous CPR, compression of the heart that happens with sufficient compression of the heart. The heart has no place to go between the sternum and the erasic spine so that injuries are common in the heart and lacerations of the heart are not the most common but can occur. - So now if somebody was to sustain a one and a half inch laceration, to the heart, would that be something that could explode? - Absolutely. - And how long would it take a person to die? Had they received a one and a half laceration to the heart? - Well, the heart would stop beating within a minute or two. - If that injury had occurred at two or two in the afternoon, up until 343 in the afternoon, when that's when Mr. Greta arrived at the hospital, with Cory, would he have in dead already? - He couldn't live more than two minutes with that kind of injury. Yes, absolutely. - Badden tries to argue that the lacerations to the heart happened as a result of CPR on the child. And that's true, it can happen. It's unlikely that it would happen in a hospital setting, but it doesn't explain the lacerations on the liver. - In my opinion, given the age of these injuries, it is entirely incompatible with them having been produced by CPR because they wouldn't have had this inflammatory response that takes hours to develop. A constellation of all of these findings and the distribution of them throughout the heart says to me that this is not related to CPR, but it's related to chronic ongoing stress. So while Cory's immediate cause of death was the blunt impact injuries that he sustained the day that he died, the presence of stress cardiomyopathy suggests that there was ongoing physiological stress most likely due to ongoing mistreatment or abuse. - In addition to the laceration of the heart that Dr. Andrew found, he found what he described as stress markers in Cory's heart. The markers, discolorations that he found in the heart were a result of chronic ongoing stress that was being placed on Cory Mitchell. He said it was stress that would have been far greater than even an athlete training for the Olympics. This is something that happened to Cory's heart as a result of constantly being in fear of someone or something. - Dr. did you make any findings regarding bruising on the decedent's body, which was significant in regard to your formulation of your opinion? - In assessing the potential for child abuse, it's not so much that contusions are life-threatening in and of the cells, but it's the pattern and distribution of injuries that suggest that a child has been mistreated. And Cory had contusions over a wide area of his body of varying ages from under his chin, his head, his trunk, his extremities. There was one fairly large one just on the left side of his chest, so my concern was not so much with the severity of the bruising, but the pattern and distribution of the bruising as being suggestive of child abuse. - The importance of Dr. Andrew's testimony is that it goes into critical detail of the timeline of injuries leading up to Cory's death. - In my opinion, these injuries occurred at roughly the same time, and their age could have been as recent as four hours, but as old as 12 hours prior to when Cory actually died at 5 p.m. on the second. In the initial findings by Dr. Andrew, he found that the time frame of death fatal injury occurred somewhere between 5 a.m. and 1 p.m. on April 2, 2021. The significance of that time frame is it's split in the middle where we have four hours where Cory's under the care of his mother, we have four hours where Cory's under the care of his father. - Dr. Can you tell us about the additional evidence that you saw to climb to that time frame? - There was a video that was alluded to and it was an intentional video. There were no people in the video. It appears as if the phone was like on the car seat or something. And it was represented to me that this was Cory's mother dropping him off for custodial care with his father. And they were having a conversation. Well, this was at about nine o'clock. Cory was answering questions. He was conversational, he was normal, audibly. So if that's at nine o'clock, the period of time of injury from five o'clock to nine o'clock in my mind is eliminated. A person with these injuries is not going to be responding like Cory would in the car. So that puts us between 9 a.m. and approximately 1 p.m. I can't narrow it down anymore specifically than that. But I am confident that that is the range of time in which Cory was injured. Did he ask me? Well, he's your other parent. So it's right he needs to see it because you want the doctor. I just want to make sure he sees that. I'm not sure where he is. Hi. Yeah, he's inside. I don't know why the car is on a human string. But Gregor's defense attorney, Mario Galucci, he questions Dr. Andrew's timeline. You also said that initially you put your opinion that it occurred between four and 12 hours, right? Yes. And then you change your opinion based upon certain things that you give it. Yeah, that's right. Incorrect. OK. I did not change my opinion. My opinion was amended or modified on the basis of new information. The basic opinion was still the same. The time frame was narrowed because of additional evidence that suggested that he couldn't have possibly have sustained those injuries per 9 o'clock. It is not normal for an expert to change his opinion unless there is something demonstrative to make him change his opinion. So when Dr. Andrew's made his initial opinion, it put Brianna directly in the crosshairs. Now, when you met with Detective Mitchell, and you met with Miss Lenta, did they discuss with you that if you put it between the four and 12-hour period, that he would have actually been in the care of his mother [BLANK_AUDIO] that time. Well, I knew that he did not get dropped off for custodial care to his father until nine o'clock. So whether or not they mentioned it, I knew that that was the case. So now you're stating that you saw a 33-second video of a child speaking to his mother. By the way, is that diagnostic or not diagnostic? It certainly aids in the diagnosis. It is not diagnostic in and of itself. However, a child is not going to respond in that fashion if he has already sustained those ultimately lethal injuries. We look at the time that he spent with his mother inside of that time frame and we're able to say that for a significant period of that time that he's with his mother, he's either asleep or traveling in the car. So that limits the time period with his mother greatly. And we're able to even narrow that time frame down a little bit more with the uncovering of the audio recording that Brianna took on her phone, unbeknownst to her, of Corey talking at nine o'clock that morning on his way into Chris's house. You're able to hear Corey speaking, he's speaking clearly, he's not slurring his words. So we were able to use that video to provide to Dr. Andrew and as a result, based on Corey's behavior in that video, he was able to narrow the time frame of the fatal injury between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. when he was in the sole custody of Christopher Greger. Now the defense's medical expert again, Dr. Michael Bond, and gives his opinion on the cause and manner of Corey's death. Do you have an opinion at who do all the material in regard to Corey's cause of that? I think that Corey's cause of death has been confused because of extensive injuries caused by the CPR process. But I do agree with the inflammation and sepsis part of his diagnosis. The inflammation and sepsis part of Dr. Vargas's diagnosis refers to inflammation in the lung and the finding on culture of bacteria in the lung that could cause pneumonia and sepsis. In my opinion, the most likely cause of death was a very severe rapid pneumonia. Did you form an opinion as to the manner of death? Well, my opinion would be that the manner of death for all the information we have is natural. Dr. Michael Bond was trotted out by the defense as kind of a celebrity medical examiner. He testified in the OJ Simpson case, he is a big name in the forensic science community, and he testified that the child that died of pneumonia brought on by sepsis. I think that the point of that was to say that, oh, the child had an illness. The pneumonia is fluid in the lungs, and the fluid that was there was blood because his heart and his liver were bleeding. So it was quite a clever way, I thought, to try to explain these injuries away and make it not Chris's fault. Did you make any findings regarding sepsis or infection? That issue came up on the initial examination and based not only on the autopsy findings, but my review of the medical records, there's no zero. Not one centilla of evidence of sepsis or any other infectious process in Cory's autopsy. A number of doctors testified here about numerous injuries to Cory's autopsy. A bruise to his chest, a bruise under his chin, an abrasion to his hip, and some light bruising on his back. Did you see those injuries? Yes. In your opinion, did any of these injuries have anything to do with Cory's death? They did not. Dr. Biden is probably the world's greatest forensic pathologist. He's been doing this for 200 years. He invented forensic pathology. Let's just say that. And he was able to corroborate every single fact about how Cory died. He went through the anatomy. He went through the biology. He went through the cell breakdown. He demonstrated that the bruises on his body had absolutely nothing to do with Cory's death. Dr. Baden's testimony, that was compared really with Andrews. And that made it a little bit of a horse race at the end. As the trial is now heading into closing arguments, this case is shaping up to be a battle. A battle between the testimony of Dr. Baden and Dr. Andrew. Did Cory die from chronic abuse or did he die from natural causes? And who is the jury going to believe? We all want justice for Cory. Justice is not convicting a man who will murder. Who did not commit a murder? There's only one conclusion you could make. And that's the same conclusion. Dr. Baden made. Cory died from natural causes. This is not homicide. Is it tragic? Hell yeah. Said, yes. There's no winners. You see here, Frank? He's sitting here crying. There's no winner here. Cory died. That's it. There's only onevert that I believe we can come up with. And that's that. Christopher Greger did not kill or abuse Cory. This case is about punishments. On March 20th of 2021, Cory's mother brought Cory home two hours late. Cory was punished. He was put on a treadmill. We have a video of this treadmill. On April 2nd of 2021, Cory was brought home 14 hours late. Cory was punished. The person who loved him the most inflicted lunch, forced trauma, which is child abuse. This treadmill video speaks for itself. The treadmill ladies and gentlemen is the defendant's mechanism for abuse. You can use this video to show that what happened on April 2nd wasn't an accident or mistake, right? So that's how these two things correlate. And in this court order, it says the court reviewed the letter of investigatory findings, right? And Brianna's request for custody was denied. What's really interesting about this is that the court did not have the video. The court only reviewed a letter. And Brianna did not receive custody. Certainly, those of us who were parents and who were trying and fighting for our child to protect them, and make sure that no harm comes to them. And to be told, this is the mechanism to do that. And then you go there. And then time and time again in that mechanism does not respond. And then ultimately the very thing you warned it of happens. And that is tragic and it's devastating. Dr. Andrew's testimony proves that the defendant murdered his son Corey. The cause of the death as per the pathologist was a lethal train of events and without which death would not have occurred. A strike, a hit, that's what one forced trauma is. Dr. Andrew is able to determine that these one forced trauma injuries were inflicted on Corey between 9 a.m. and 1. So the laceration to Corey's heart and liver occurred roughly at the same time. The defendant was the only person who was with his son when these injuries were inflicted. He was murdered by his father, the person who was supposed to protect him and take care of him the most. His case is about Corey and how he became the ultimate victim of the defendant's punishment and abuse. Six-year-olds just don't die and neither did Corey. After strong closing arguments from both the defense and the prosecution, the J.M. jury begins their deliberations. - The jury went back into the deliberation room, and at that point, we realized that it's out of our hands, and we hope we did what all we could to present this case in a manner that would serve some justice for Corey Mitchell. - We were there when they were deliberating. We didn't know. We were just hoping for the best. We went to a church and prayed and did a lot for a trial. - And then hung out with our friends and family outside of the courthouse. - So after two days of deliberations, the jury reaches a verdict. - Now the four person has the jury reached a verdict. - Yes sir. - And is that verdict unanimous? - Yes sir. - I mean, I'm going to read to you each count. Please give me the jury's unanimous response. One, how do you find us to count one in danger in the welfare of the child? - Guilty. Two, how do you find us to count two murder? - Not guilty. - When they said not guilty on murder, I thought I had it in the back. - I thought there was a chance that Chris maybe found not guilty only because law enforcement and the agencies in place to protect hadn't done that yet. They failed us and Corey all along, so I thought there could be a chance. I knew it was a jury that had to decide, but I wasn't sure. - How do you find us to discharge a aggravated manslaughter? - Yeah. - And you did not answer question four? - Yes sir. - Thank you, Matterport, for sure to be seen. At this time, I'm going to hold the jury. - Chris is not found guilty of murder, but is found guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child and child endangerment. - I think I was just grateful for the manslaughter conviction because in the beginning of this whole thing, you were just thinking like he wasn't going to be charged with anything, so I was grateful for that conviction. - At this time, I would ask the clerk to record and note in the minutes that the verdict is unanimous. - I was very surprised when they convicted them on the aggravated manslaughter. I mean, I blessed Andrews, bond and blessed Andrews, how they didn't believe Dr. Bodden is beyond me. The treadmill count, the endangering, should have been a separate trial. It should have been severed out. The jury should have never seen that treadmill. That treadmill without a doubt is the only reason why Christopher Grego got convicted on the manslaughter. (gentle music) - Well, everyone's out here sacrificing the heat. I just want to say, count is a lot hotter. Now, after not taking the stand during the trial phase of this case, Christopher Grego finally addresses the court during the sentencing hearing. - If you Grego sure is raining, you'd like to say about yourself or your case. - I just want to say thank you for the opportunity to speak today, and Brianna, we haven't taught since Cory passed away. If everything that has been said, I just want to tell you that, sorry, you lost Cory. He was basically the best. I know we'll miss him for the rest of our lives. And the two years that I knew Cory worked it very difficult, but they were the greatest years of my life. - I feel like the way he said to Brianna, I'm sorry you lost Cory. It made me want to jump up and say, Cory's not lost, ask, "Holy, you killed him." - I'm sorry, I believe I could have done this to our son, but I could have hurt the most important person in my life. What happened on March 20th was inexcusable. To you, Brianna, your family and mine will want to apologize that you had to see Cory treated that way. Never deserved me. I want to assure you that on April 2nd, I did nothing to cause Cory's passing. I didn't hurt my son. I loved him and I still do. I regret not bringing him to the hospital sooner. I didn't know how sick he was. I didn't know the disability was tired. Whether you believe Dr. Bodner, Dr. Andrews, version of the events, the outcome is still the same. Cory's gone. I understand you have a job to do today, Your Honor. I ask you to send me fairly taking into consideration my entire life and not just based on the 12 days. - It was fake. He wasn't apologizing for anything. It didn't mean anything. It was bullshit. - Before Christopher Gregor is officially sentenced, Rebecca and Brianna Michelo deliver their victim impact statements. - Your Honor, Cory knew he was going to die. On the Sunday prior to Cory's death, just five days before his death, Cory was at my house and preparing to take a bath. When he untressed, he was covered in bruises. I had to turn away so Cory didn't see the tears in my eyes. Once Cory was dressed, we sat in my bed. Cory looked at me and he said, "Hey, Jima, just let's see what my daddy does to me." I told him God sees everything. This voice got very low. He said, "Why doesn't he help me?" My heart was breaking as I told him that God was helping someone else who needed him more right now. That same Sunday, Cory was outside, writing with chalk on the sidewalk. Later in the day, Brianna and I noticed that Cory had written, "I died near a front door. Cory knew nobody could help him. He knew he was going to die and he accepted it." Your Honor, my conversation with Cory five days prior to his death and the day of his death will forever haunt me. Please teach this man that his actions have consequences. Cory wanted a daddy, but instead, he got this monster Chris Greger. Your Honor, please give Cory justice today. Thank you. Your Honor, my name is Brianna Mitchell. And I appear before you today, and not only is a grieving mother, but also an advocate for justice. What he was in still is my life, my world and my everything. On April 2nd of 2021, I hesitantly dropped Cory off at the defendant's home, which is a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I kissed my son goodbye unknowingly for the last time. I wish I knew what was going to happen and I would never let him go. My new reality is explained to my daughter, what happens to her big brother and why is he not here. I take her to the cemetery to see Cory every weekend, and a year and a half old knows where Cory is. Barry, it is heartbreaking. She sits in peace with the Cory and toys be left there for him. Well, everything he did to Cory, Cory still loved him. He looked up to you, and he still wanted to be-- I'm sorry. And he still wanted him to be like a real father who treated him like a son. Instead of being a good role model for Cory, he decided to beat him to death. I hate you for not letting me say goodbye to my son, but I thank God your face is not the last one he saw. I'm sorry. Your honor, Cory should be going into fifth grade in September. Hang out with his friends. Playing sports and enjoying his life. Christopher rods him of his entire future. I beg you to not allow this injustice to continue, and he must face the full consequences of his actions. Judge Guy Ryan doesn't just then hand down his sentence. He's got some words for Christopher Greger. I need to impose sentence. I'm also entitled to consider as aggravating factor three that the defendant committed these two separate acts on separate dates, that the treadmill video shows a callous display of the defendant towards Cory. And then if the Cory falls repeatedly, and then they walk out, there's no loving interaction. There's no pat on the back. Good job, son. There's no hug. Are you OK, son? There's nothing. So while I respect the character letters I've received, saying what a loving father he is, a picture is worth 1,000 words, and a video is worth 10,000 words. So whatever happened that day, Cory was not receiving love or companionship or kindness or support. That was abuse of the most egregious sort. And it doesn't square with the defendant's statements today on count two, aggravated manslaughter. I sentenced the defendant to the custody of the Commissioner Department of Corrections for a term of 20 years. I'd count one in danger in the welfare of a child, the second degree crime. I sentenced the defendant to the custody of the Commissioner Department of Corrections for a term of five years. I conclude that count one in two should be consecutive. Anytime that we're able to convict someone of a homicide-related charge, in this case, was the aggravated manslaughter. It brings a little bit of justice. However, there's no amount of jail time or anything that can bring back Corey Mitchell-O that can bring him back into his mother's life. We do as much as we can, but we know that we're never gonna be able to fill that void. - So I have a fiance on my daughter. Everything's great, but you always feel deep down like something's missing. - It changed everything. You know, my brother passed away. And I have to, you know, be on antidepressants, like probably the rest of my life. I never returned to work after. Corey's uncle, Gino, my son, passed away a year after Corey. Gino was a struggling addict, you know, he'd been clean for quite some time, but I think this might have pushed him over the edge. She and Corey should both be here today and they're not. I tell my daughter about Corey all the time. She knows his name. We take her to visit him, you know, at the cemetery. I just try to make her as happy as I can and be the best parent I can to her. - This is where Corey's buried with his great-grandmother, they're together. And this is where we come to sit with Corey. We didn't want Corey to be alone, so it made sense to put him with my mom. When he first passed away, I was here like three times a day. I didn't want to leave. Now I would say like weekly, I'll come on the weekends with my daughter like every Saturday or Sunday. - And then every holiday, of course. - Every holiday, yeah. We used to bring like lawn chairs and just sit up here and we're blanket and just sit here. ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday dear Corey ♪ - How are you saying? ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ - All right, blow it out. We're done. - Oh yeah! - Thank you. - Do you want to hold them? - I don't want Corey to be remembered as the treadmill kid or the kid on the treadmill 'cause he was so much more than that. That's why I continue to talk. I've written a book that's not published yet because I want to tell Corey's story. I want everybody to hear it. I hope Corey's legacy will be, we love his story to help other children and I try to do that as much as I can and we just want there to be awareness on child abuse. I want there to be awareness that DCP and P fails. A lot of kids and I think Corey would love for us to do that and to help other children. We're trying to get a law passed. What we're hoping will be named Corey's law. There were a lot of people that failed Corey. One being the child abuse expert is not available 24/7 in a hospital. Guess what, abuse happens all the time, not nine to five. So I would hope that this law is put in place and it can save another child because Corey would want to do that. He loved helping. He loved taking care of other people. What better way than to save a life? If we don't change the laws, laws don't change. - So Rebecca and Brianna have presented the outline of a bill called S4093 to a New Jersey State Senator and the three central pillars of this bill are A, mandatory immediate forensic examination in suspected abuse cases. B, independent interviews away from alleged abusers and C, real-time cross-agency coordination between ERs, pediatricians, police department schools and daycares. Brianna and Rebecca, they hope that by passing what they're calling Corey's law, this can not only protect children, but potentially save their lives in future cases of abuse.