Overview
- Damien and Jessica O’Brien were arrested this week and face second-degree murder, torture and multiple child-abuse counts; both are held without bond and are due back to 67th District Court in early July.
- A forensic autopsy attributed the child’s death to dilated cardiomyopathy with morbid obesity listed as a contributing factor and recorded his weight at 255 pounds and height about 4 feet 2 inches.
- Prosecutors say Casper was found in medical distress on Nov. 4, 2025, and that records show only one documented medical visit after which a pediatric endocrinology referral was not completed.
- Investigators describe the home as a hoarding, unsanitary environment, say Casper was largely immobile with bedsores and fed a restricted diet of chips and fries, and report the parents called a veterinarian the morning he collapsed.
- Officials removed the couple’s 5-year-old daughter to Child Protective Services and say the case highlights gaps in school enrollment, medical follow-up and child-welfare oversight that allowed the children to go unnoticed.