A Michigan couple is facing second-degree murder charges after they allegedly abused and neglected their 7-year-old son, who weighed 255 pounds and died of heart failure.
On November 4, 2025, paramedics were called to the family’s home in Flint Township after they received a report that the boy, Casper O’Brien, was struggling to breathe, according to WNEM.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton told the broadcaster that the house was so filled with items that there was not enough space inside for both paramedics and police to enter. He also noted that a 5-year-old girl was running around the house without any clothes.
“When the police arrived, the 5-year-old little girl was running around naked and, for lack of a better term, she was like a feral child,” he said, according to Fox 2 Detroit.
Leyton described the incident as one of the “most unbelievable scenes that the police have seen, that I’ve reviewed in my 22 years as prosecuting attorney.”
When paramedics located O’Brien, he was suffering from a medical episode and was unable to move, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the broadcaster. O’Brien died in the hours after paramedics arrived.
Leyton said the boy’s autopsy determined that he died from a heart muscle disease and found that morbid obesity was a contributing factor to his death.
“These parents, I believe, neglected this child to the point that he became obese,” the prosecutor said.
The 5-year-old found at the scene was removed from the home on the day of the incident and was placed into protective care.
The children’s parents, Damien O’Brien, 40, and Jessica O’Brien, 41, have each been charged with one count of second-degree murder, one count of torture, and three counts of second-degree child abuse.
Leyton told reporters that he was unsure if Child Protective Services or the local school district was even aware that the O’Brien children existed.
He said that the parents took Casper O’Brien to a doctor only once in his seven years despite having health insurance. He also claimed that the boy had been bedridden and never went to school.
“They knew enough to call the veterinarian the very morning the child went into [cardiac arrest] because the dog was sick,” Leyton said. “But yet they don’t take the kids to the doctor. [It] doesn’t make any sense to me.”
The O’Briens’ landlord reportedly told investigators that the home had fallen into disrepair and that they became concerned after Damien O’Brien allegedly refused them entry when requested.
The couple is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday for a probable cause hearing.
