A Michigan couple is facing serious criminal charges, including murder, after their 7-year-old son died last November weighing 255 pounds (116 kilograms). Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced the charges Monday, saying the boy was not receiving proper nutrition.
“Clearly the parents were feeding the child improperly, to say the least,” Leyton said. “He wasn’t getting the nutrition he needed.”
The child, identified as Casper O’Brien, stopped breathing at the family’s Flint home when emergency responders were called. His 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.
Both parents were arraigned last week and remain jailed in Genesee County, located roughly an hour northwest of Detroit, with no bond. A probable cause hearing has been scheduled for Thursday.
Casper stood 4 feet, 2.5 inches tall (128 centimeters) and was medically classified as obese, according to the Genesee County Medical Examiner’s report. His official cause of death was dilated cardiomyopathy — a condition in which the heart becomes enlarged and weakened, losing its ability to pump blood effectively and impacting other organs including the lungs. His weight was cited as a contributing condition.
Despite the family having health coverage, prosecutors say the parents failed to bring Casper in for medical treatment. Leyton told reporters he believes the boy survived on “a steady diet of snack foods.” Casper was nonverbal, bedridden, and suffered from severe bed sores and various rashes.
The autopsy report noted that law enforcement and Child Protective Services found piles of trash throughout the home, and Casper had never been enrolled in school. Leyton described the hoarding conditions inside the residence as “terrible.”
An attorney representing Damien O’Brien, Elias Fanous, released a statement declining to speculate on the details of the case. He said his client was “innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.” An attorney for Jessica O’Brien had not responded to a request for comment by Monday.
Records show 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 appointment, he weighed 104 pounds (47 kilograms). His mother was given guidance on healthy eating and exercise, and a referral to a pediatric endocrinologist was made — but Casper never attended that appointment. The specific metabolic disease was not detailed in available medical records.
One of the child abuse charges is connected to the couple’s 5-year-old daughter, who has since been placed in foster care.
Leyton reflected on the gravity of the case, saying, “It’s a very, very sad and tragic situation. I’ve been the prosecuting attorney for 22 years and I thought I’d seen it all but I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”
