Midwest parents charged with murder after morbidly obese son aged SEVEN died weighing 255 pounds after being fed diet of potatoes because of his 'texture preferences'

By WILL POTTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:45, 26 June 2026 | Updated: 20:59, 26 June 2026 Two Michigan parents are facing murder charges after their seven-year-old son died of heart failure weighing 255 pounds.  Damien O'Brien, 40, and his wife Jessica O'Brien, 41, were also hit with child abuse and torture charges after their son Casper died from 'extraordinary, terrible neglect', prosecutors say.  The seven-year-old had allegedly never been to school and had only ever visited the doctor once, with his parents keeping him in their run-down 'hoarder' home in Flint Township, Michigan.  Police said they responded to a 911 call at the 'absolutely disgusting' home on November 4, 2025, and found Casper suffering from a medical emergency in a makeshift bed that four family members slept in together.  The boy died in hospital a short time later, and a medical report said his cause of death was dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart failure disease, with morbid obesity as a contributing cause.  The medical report listed Casper as weighing 255 pounds at just four-feet-two-inches tall.  An average seven-year-old boy should weigh between 40 and 70 pounds.  Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced charges against the parents this week, alleging they subjected their son to years of neglect and abuse. 'On the face of it, this is cruel and extreme suffering from this child caused by the neglect of the parents,' Leyton told WJRT. 'I don’t want to charge parents with neglect or murder.... I didn’t have any choice.' Casper O'Brien, 7, died in November 2025 from heart failure after he ballooned to 255lbs Damien O'Brien, 40, and his wife Jessica O'Brien, 41, were hit with murder, child abuse and torture charges after their son Casper died from 'extraordinary, terrible neglect', prosecutors say Prosecutors said the parents left their home in Flint Township, Michigan in a 'hoarder' situation, and described their children's ordeal as 'cruel and extreme suffering' Authorities said Casper was autistic, and the couple also have a five-year-old daughter, who has been placed in the care of Child Protective Services.  Leyton said despite Damien O'Brien having a good career as a cloud engineer for Delta Dental with health insurance for his family, they never gave their son medical checkups or took care of his health issues. 'That is obesity. This child did not have a pediatrician, was only taken to the doctor I believe… once,' the prosecutor said.  A forensic autopsy report said the boy was last seen by a doctor in February 2024, when he was referred to a pediatric endocrinologist that he never saw, reports MLive.com.  The report added that Casper's diet was 'potato chips and fries', and he couldn't eat a variety of foods because of 'texture issues.'  Despite the extreme alleged neglect, Leyton added that on the day Casper died, the parents called their veterinarian to have their dog treated.  Police described the family home in Flint Township, Michigan (pictured) as 'absolutely disgusting', as one officer said trash on the floor was 'so extreme, I could not tell if there was carpet or wood floors'  Casper, seen as a child in his parents' social media profiles, died from a heart failure disease while weighing 255 pounds at just four-feet-two-inches tall, a medical report said  Authorities said that despite allegedly neglecting Casper, on the day the boy died the parents called their veterinarian to have their dog treated Authorities said the parents' neglect was so severe that they never registered their children in schools, as Leyton said, 'none of these kids even existed in the eyes of the government.' 'CPS had never been out there, nobody knew about these kids, they had not been to school,' he said.  When police and Child Protective Services searched the home following Casper's death, they described the property as 'absolutely disgusting' and said piles of trash had built up throughout the home.  'There was trash on the floor throughout the residence. It was so extreme, I could not tell if there was carpet or wood floors,' a police officer wrote in a case report.  Police also said they found four neglected dogs in the home that needed urgent medical attention, and a broken bathroom toilet that was filled with feces.   Police described the family's home as 'absolutely disgusting', and said on the day Casper died they found him suffering from a medical emergency in a makeshift bed that four family members slept in together Leyton described the home as a 'hoarder' situation, and said he had never seen a case as severe.  'I can’t think of what else this is, other than extraordinary, terrible neglect. And to me, that is willful and wanton misconduct, which is second-degree murder,' the prosecutor said.  The parents were arrested this week and formally charged with child abuse, torture and second-degree murder.  They are being held at the Genesee County Jail without bond, and are next in court on July 2.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. 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