The second week of testimony in Christopher Gregor’s murder trial concluded with a stunning declaration from a forensic pathologist, who ruled out the defense’s claim that 6-year-old Corey Mitello died from sepsis. This dramatic turn of events left the courtroom reeling as the prosecution continued to build its case.
Lindsay Carnival, one of the nurses who tended to Corey on that fateful day, took the stand, detailing the harrowing moments leading up to his death.
“What were your immediate observations of Corey’s condition in room six at the emergency room?” the prosecutor inquired.
“Corey was very lethargic, pale… he was very sick,” Carnival responded, her voice thick with emotion.
Carnival’s testimony painted a grim picture of Corey’s deteriorating health. His temperature was a worryingly low 96.9 degrees, and his condition rapidly worsened.
“Can you tell the jurors what happened regarding Corey’s treatment at the emergency room and his condition?” the prosecutor pressed.
“Um, Cory seized, and then his heart stopped. He had stopped breathing, so we initiated CPR,” Carnival recounted, her voice trembling. “Dr. Pat intubated him, where he put a tube in his trachea and into his lungs, and ventilation was provided along with CPR.”
Medical professionals performing CPR
Despite their efforts, Corey’s pulse faded, and he was rushed back to the emergency room.
“Cory was not breathing, his heart was not beating… he was basically dead at that point,” Carnival stated, her voice heavy with sorrow.
The courtroom sat in stunned silence as Carnival revealed that Christopher Gregor, Corey’s father, was not present when the child passed away.
Surveillance footage played for the jury showed Gregor being escorted out of room six, visibly distressed. He was led to a chair, where he broke down, his body wracked with sobs. However, despite his emotional display, Gregor never returned to his son’s side.
The defense, however, maintains that Corey’s death was a result of sepsis, a life-threatening infection. Gregor’s attorney, in a heated cross-examination, grilled Carnival about Corey’s oxygen levels upon arrival at the hospital.
“The initial one says 85%, which… normal… what’s normal?” the defense attorney asked.
“92 to 100. So he’s seven… what is it, seven percentage points lower than what’s normal, right? Correct. Okay. So that’s consistent with the child being short of breath, right?” the attorney pressed.
“Not necessarily. Could have not been on his finger correctly or not recording correctly, which happens often,” Carnival retorted.
The defense attorney continued to hammer away at Carnival’s testimony, attempting to cast doubt on the prosecution’s timeline and Gregor’s actions.
Medical professional checking a pulse oximeter
The prosecution then called Richard Cicero, a call screener for a child abuse hotline, to the stand. Cicero revealed a chilling phone call he received from Christopher Gregor on the morning of Corey’s death. In the call, Gregor expressed concern that Corey’s mother, Brianna Mitello, was coaching the child to make false accusations of abuse against him.
“His mother has put in an emergent application after filing, um, for custody,” Gregor’s voice crackled over the phone recording. “Yeah, more… my son came back this morning, um, and he was… to me, that his mom said that he had to tell the doctor that I had hit him… and of… be nature… and coaching him.”
The prosecution argued that this call, made just hours before Corey’s death, was an attempt by Gregor to deflect blame and paint himself as a concerned father.
The jury was then presented with evidence retrieved from Gregor’s vehicle, which was searched four days after Corey’s death. Among the items found were two cell phones, one of which was a prepaid burner phone.
Further deepening the mystery, a computer forensics expert revealed that several Google searches had been deleted from Gregor’s phone history.
“The initial terms that were identified as deleted were ‘Neptune non-emergency police’, ‘Jersey Shore Medical Center’, ‘lost consciousness’, ‘sleepy’, and ‘nauseous’,” the expert testified.
The prosecution suggested that these deleted searches, made in the days leading up to Corey’s death, were further evidence of Gregor’s guilty conscience.
The courtroom then sat in tense anticipation as Dr. Thomas Andrew, the forensic pathologist who conducted Corey’s autopsy, took the stand.
“Corey Mitello died of blunt impact injury of the chest and abdomen with laceration of the heart, contusion of the left lung, and laceration and contusion of the liver,” Dr. Andrew stated. “It’s a traumatic cause. The manner of death is homicide. It was at the hands of another person. He didn’t do it himself, and it didn’t happen accidentally.”
Dr. Andrew’s testimony delivered a crushing blow to the defense’s argument, confirming that Corey’s death was no accident.
“Did you make any findings regarding sepsis or infection?” the prosecutor questioned.
“Once again, that issue came up on the initial examination, and based not only on the autopsy findings but my review of the medical records, there is no… zero… not one scintilla of evidence of sepsis or any other infectious process in Corey’s autopsy,” Dr. Andrew declared, his voice ringing with certainty.
The prosecution argued that Gregor’s flight to Tennessee after Corey’s death was a clear indication of his guilt. However, Gregor’s parents, David and Carolyn, offered emotional testimony, claiming that their son fled due to threats and harassment the family received following Corey’s passing.
Despite the defense’s attempts to explain Gregor’s actions, the prosecution’s case continued to gain momentum. The shocking revelations and emotional testimonies left the courtroom captivated, eagerly awaiting the next chapter in this tragic case.
