An 11-month investigation into the death of a 6-year-old boy ended this week with the arrest of his father, who is now charged with murder.  

Allegations of years abuse by the father and claims the courts did little to help pushed the boy’s mom, Bre Micciolo, to start a justice and awareness campaign. 

Micciolo says she finally feels like justice is served after almost a year. News 12 is also hearing from a psychologist who says signs of abuse among children during the pandemic sometimes went unnoticed. 

“This is really, really awful. Awful for his mom because she knew something was going on and no one was listening to her,” says clinical and school psychologist Dr. Liz Matheis.

Matheis works with children in schools and looks for signs of trouble.  

“Overeating, undereating, oversleeping, under sleeping, acting out at home,” says Matheis.

Corey Micciolo was just 6 years old when he died in April 2021. Prosecutors first charged his father, Christopher Gregor, with child endangerment that July. He was jailed and released due to bail reform.

An outraged Micciolo began a campaign called Justice for Corey. She met other parents through Facebook going through similar situations. 

“It is incredibly frightening as a parent to hand your child over to another parent who in theory should be taking care of that child and acting in their best interest and they’re not,” says Matheis.

This week, after an extensive investigation and murder charge, Gregor was jailed without bail. The cause of death for Corey was blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen. The day before he died, Micciolo went before the courts requesting full custody. That request was denied.  

Matheis says teachers and school workers could have provided more testimony, but this happened during the pandemic while children were at home.  

“Talk to your teachers, your guidance counselors, let them know what’s going on,” says Matheis. “If you’re suspecting anything they are another source of information for you watching the behavioral pattern.”

Mario F. Gallucci, the attorney representing Gregor, tells News 12, “As I have stated from the outset in July, Mr. Gregor had nothing to do with the death of this child. Although tragic it must be remembered that the mother was not given custody of her own child for a reason. It took Ocean County prosecutor over eight months to finally find a forensic medical examiner, they had to pay, to agree with their narrative. Once I receive the medical examiner’s reports, the county, and the hired gun, our expert will review it. Then the real reason behind this child’s tragic death will finally be revealed.”

Gregor remains locked up with no bail. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.