Indiana grandfather charged in toddler’s death after fall from cruise ship
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (WISH) — An Indiana man was charged with negligent homicide in the July death of his 18-month-old granddaughter, Puerto Rico’s Justice Department said Monday.
Salvatore Anello is accused of dropping Chloe Wiegand before she fell to her death from the 11th floor play area of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico.
The toddler — who was on vacation with her siblings, parents and four grandparents — had asked her maternal grandfather to pick her up so she could “bang on the glass like she always did at her older brothers’ hockey games,” an attorney for the family said in a July statement.
Anello placed her on a rail by the window, he said, believing the glass would support her.
Indiana grandfather charged in toddler’s death after fall from cruise ship
Her family blamed her death on the open window and indicated they planned to take legal action against the cruise line.
A San Juan judge determined cause for Anello’s arrest and set bond at $80,000, Puerto Rico authorities confirmed Monday.
Anello is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 20.