Michigan parents charged after 7-year-old dies weighing 115 kilograms

Parents in Michigan have been charged with second-degree murder, child abuse and torture after their 7-year-old son died from severe heart failure linked to extreme neglect. The boy, Casper, weighed 115 kilograms and was 1.27 meters tall at the time of his death, and prosecutors said he suffered from morbid obesity.

According to the indictment, Casper had never attended school and had seen a doctor only once in his life. District Attorney David Leyton called the case “cruel and extreme suffering caused to a child by his parents’ neglect” and said it reflected “terrible and extraordinary neglect.”

Police went to the family’s home in Flint Township, Michigan, on November 4, 2025, after an emergency call about a child in distress. They also found Casper’s 5-year-old sister in the house, which officers described as being in a “hoarding situation.” Leyton said, “None of these children existed in government terms,” adding that social services had never visited and no one knew the children were there.

The prosecutor said the parents had no excuse, even though the father, Damian O’Brien, 40, had a good job and the family had health insurance. On the morning Casper died, the parents called a veterinarian to treat their dog. Damian O’Brien and his wife, Jessica O’Brien, 41, are being held without bail and are due in court on July 2.