‘They don’t take the kids to the doctor’: Michigan parents charged with murder after their 7-year-old child dies weighing 255 pounds

The parents of a 7-year-old boy who reportedly died weighing 255 pounds have been charged with murder in what authorities have described as a suspected case of neglect near Flint, Michigan, according to Fox News.

Damien and Jessica O’Brien have been charged with second-degree murder, torture and child abuse, according to authorities. The charges follow the death of their son, Casper, who authorities say was found in distress inside the family’s home.

First responders were reportedly called to the O’Briens’ home in November after Casper stopped breathing, according to a report from affiliate FOX 2 Detroit. The boy was later taken to the hospital, where he reportedly died.

Prosecutor points to a dog’s care as the central concern in the case

Authorities say the young boy was bedridden, unable to speak, and living in filth. He died at the hospital from a heart muscle disease that was said to have been compounded by morbid obesity. Cases like this echo other reports of children found in severe neglect conditions.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton told Fox that the conditions inside the home were so severe that police said they couldn’t enter the house to help paramedics because there was no room to move.

According to the report, both parents were employed and had health insurance at the time. However, neither Casper, who Leyton noted was nonverbal and likely on the autism spectrum, nor his younger sister seemed to have received medical care.

Leyton pointed to what he described as a contrast in how the family allegedly responded to illness in the home. He drew attention to the steps taken for a sick pet on the same day the child went into distress. “They knew enough to call the veterinarian the very morning the child went into [cardiac arrest] because the dog was sick,” Leyton told FOX 2 Detroit.

“But yet they don’t take the kids to the doctor. [It] doesn’t make any sense to me,” Leyton added. Casper’s 5-year-old sister, who Leyton described as “feral,” was removed from the home on the day he died by Children’s Protective Services. Authorities said she has since been placed into temporary foster care.

Other parents have similarly faced murder charges over a child’s death in a case in which a Texas woman was arrested after human remains positively identified as her missing six-year-old son were discovered at her residence.

The case continues and the parents have made no comment.