Royal Caribbean has been cleared of all wrongdoing in the death of a toddler who fell out of a cruise ship window.
On Tuesday, Florida U.S. District Judge Donald Graham ruled that the July 2019 death of 18-month old Chloe Wiegand was not the cruise line’s fault. Instead, they ruled that the child’s grandfather, Salvatore “Sam” Anello, was solely responsible for the accidental fall that claimed the baby’s life.
Wiegand fell through an open window that her grandfather placed her on in a play area while the ship was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In February of this year, Anello received three years of probation after pleading guilty in 2020 to negligent homicide. The man maintains that he did not know the window was open when he propped his granddaughter on it. However, Royal Caribbean provided images showing Anello leaning out the window, proving that he was aware it was open.
Following his sentencing, Anello said that he was relieved that he did not have to serve time behind bars but was “angry at Royal Caribbean because it is clear that these windows never should have been allowed to have been opened in the first place.”
Chloe’s parents, Alan Wiegand and Kimberly Schultz Wiegand sued Royal Caribbean in December 2019 for failing to mark the unsecured windows and install appropriate safety devices properly.
An attorney for the Wiegand’s said that they would be appealing the ruling.
