Grandfather charged in death of granddaughter who fell from cruise ship
PUERTO RICO (CBS NEWS) -- A grandfather who police say dropped his young granddaughter from the 11th floor of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico in July has been accused of negligent homicide. A judge on Monday ordered the arrest of Salvatore Anello after prosecutors submitted evidence and said the 18-month-old girl fell when he raised her up to an open window.
Michael Winkleman, an attorney for the Wiegand family, said that the tragedy occurred after Chloe Wiegand asked her grandfather to lift her up so she could bang on the glass in a children's play area.
"Chloe wanted to bang on the glass like she always did at her older brothers' hockey games," he said in a July statement. "Her grandfather thought there was glass just like everywhere else, but there was not, and she was gone in an instant."
He blamed the cruise ship company for leaving the window inexplicably open.
The family is from Indiana and was aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.
Anello is being held on $80,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on November 20.
