{"id":764507,"date":"2026-06-27T21:48:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/764507\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T21:48:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:48:27","slug":"michigan-parents-charged-with-murder-in-death-of-seven-year-old-son-weighing-250lbs-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/764507\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan parents charged with murder in death of seven-year-old son weighing 250lbs | Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Michigan<\/a> couple has been charged with murder after authorities say their son died weighing more than 250lbs (113kg) despite being just seven years old.<\/p>\n

The investigation into the case\u2019s circumstances began on 4 November 2025 after a 911 call reported a young boy in medical distress at a home in Flint township, Michigan<\/a>. The child, identified as Casper O\u2019Brien, died after being taken to a hospital.<\/p>\n

David Leyton, a local Genesee county prosecutor, then recently charged Casper\u2019s parents \u2013 Damien O\u2019Brien, 40, and Jessica O\u2019Brien, 41 \u2013 with second-degree murder in connection with the death of their son.<\/p>\n

At the time of his death, Casper was said to measure 4ft, 2.5in tall (1.3 meters) and to weigh 255lbs \u2013 the latter of which is well above US averages and pediatric recommendations.<\/p>\n

A complaint filed by the Genesee county prosecutor\u2019s office alleges the O\u2019Briens caused serious physical harm to their son, who was reportedly immobile.<\/p>\n

Authorities also alleged the couple failed to take Casper to a doctor and did not provide him with a safe living environment before his death. Police said they found the boy in a makeshift bed that was shared by four family members, according to the Michigan news outlet MLive<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If convicted, the O\u2019Briens could face life in prison.<\/p>\n

A forensic autopsy report states that Casper was last examined by his primary care physician in February 2024, when he was referred to a pediatric endocrinologist. Casper\u2019s parents never brought him to that appointment, according to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was reported that the decedent\u2019s diet was potato chips and fries because of texture issues,\u201d John A Bechinski, the deputy medical examiner, reportedly wrote in a forensic autopsy report, according to MLive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis child did not have a pediatrician, was only taken to the doctor I believe, according to the police report, once,\u201d Leyton told the Michigan news outlet WJRT<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He further claimed Casper\u2019s family did not lack resources. Leyston said Damien O\u2019Brien had a stable job that provided health insurance to the entire family.<\/p>\n

Court records also show the couple faces a charge of second-degree child abuse involving another child in the home, a five-year-old girl, NBC News<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, that girl was also medically considered to be morbidly obese. Authorities said she was found outside the home naked, dirty and with knots in her hair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Michigan couple has been charged with murder after authorities say their son died weighing more than 250lbs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-764507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}