The parents of a seven-year-old Michigan boy who weighed 116 kilograms (255 pounds) when he died have been charged with murder, torture and child abuse, prosecutors said.
“Obviously the parents were feeding the child inappropriately, to say the least,” Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said Monday. “He wasn’t getting the nutrition he needed.”
Casper O’Brien died in November after first responders were called to the family’s home in Flint because he had stopped breathing, prosecutors said.
Her parents – Damien O’Brien, 40, and Jessica O’Brien, 41 – have each been charged with second-degree murder, torture and three counts of second-degree child abuse.
The couple was arraigned last week and is being held without bond in the Genesee County jail, about an hour’s drive northwest of Detroit. A probable cause hearing is set for Thursday.
The child, who was 128 centimeters (4 feet, 2.5 inches) tall, was medically classified as obese, according to the Genesee County Medical Examiner’s report.
Her cause of death was listed as enlarged heart disease, with her weight a contributing factor.
