TRAGIC

Grandfather of Toddler Who Fell Out of Cruise Ship to Plead Guilty in Her Death

Salvatore Anello will plead guilty to negligent homicide charges to avoid jail time, his attorney has said.

The Indiana grandfather of an 18-month-old child who fell to her death through an open window of a cruise ship in Puerto Rico will plead guilty in her death, NBC News reports, citing his attorney. Salvatore Anello was charged by Puerto Rican authorities with negligent homicide for the July 2019 death of Chloe Wiegand, and he pleaded not guilty in October. An attorney for the Wiegand family said Anello filed paperwork to change his plea in an agreement that included no jail time and would allow him to serve his probation in South Bend. Lawyer Michael Winkleman said the plea was in the “best interests of the family so that they can close this horrible chapter and turn their focus to mourning Chloe.” Anello held Wiegand up to a window on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, which he said he thought was closed, so the toddler could bang on the glass. Instead, Wiegand fell through the window.

The Wiegand family filed a lawsuit late last year against Royal Caribbean, claiming the cruise line was at fault for the accident. The lawsuit has since been approved by a judge after Royal Caribbean tried to block it.