Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Fun-filled family vacation turns tragic with cruise ship death of 18-month-old girl. Grandfather charged.

Episode Date: November 1, 2019

A family vacation turns deadly when beautiful tot girl Chloe Wiegand plummets 11 floors from a children's play area of a cruise ship. The grandfather, Salvatore "Sam" Anello, is charged with her death. Is he criminally negligent for allowing her to fall or is the cruise line to blame for the open window she fell through?Joining Nancy Grace today to discuss the case: Jason Oshins, NY Criminal Defense Lawyer Cloyd Steiger, 36-year Seattle Police Dept. Officer, 22-year Homicide Detective & AUTHOR of "Homicide: The View From Inside the Yellow Tape" Dr Kendall Crowns, Deputy Medical Examiner of Travis County, Texas Dr Daniel Bober, Forensic Psychiatrist  Dave Mack, Investigative Reporter CrimeOnline This week's podcast is sponsored by the new Wondery podcast Bad Batch. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-batch/id1482851200 Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Some of the happiest times I have ever had were on a cruise trip with my children. We were on a Disney cruise and it was incredible. And what was even more incredible are the safety precautions that Disney takes on those cruise ships to protect children. So on a Royal Caribbean cruise, how does an 18-month-old little girl, Chloe, fall from an open window in the kids zone, no less. Well, at first, we hear reports that her own grandfather was dangling her out the window, a la Michael Jackson. Could that be true? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. crime stories with nancy grace

tragedy aboard a royal caribbean cruise where a toddler has died after falling 150 feet while allegedly being dangled out of a window by her grandfather. According to Fox News, the 18-month-old girl slipped out of his arms on the 11th floor of the ship. The ship at the time was reportedly docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After falling, the toddler was taken to the hospital and died shortly after. A local news website on the island said the girl was from Indiana and was on vacation with her family. Police have opened an investigation and have yet vacation with her family. Police have opened an investigation and have yet to question the family, according to Fox News. However, the

Department of Public Security in Puerto Rico told the site that the homicide division is in place. Police say the family believes floor of a cruise ship has been charged with her death. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. You are hearing our friends at WPLG. That was Trent Kelly. Now take a listen to WTSP 10's Kaitlin Lockerbie. A 10 news alert now in Puerto Rico. An 18-month-old girl from Indiana has died after falling out of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. The little girl fell from the 11th floor from

a port side window and then hit the pavement. Authorities say her grandfather was holding her up to the window when he lost his grip. Puerto Rican police are interviewing the family members at this time. They're also reviewing any available security camera that may show what happened and they're interviewing witnesses to determine the official cause of the child's death. Authorities believe the girl and her family are from Indiana as I mentioned. Wow those are two very very different stories. Was the 18-month-old little girl dangled out the window as we first heard? Or was baby Chloe a victim of falling out an open window? I recall distinctly after the twins were born, putting bars on my windows up on the 21st floor of the apartment in New York because the

children the twins wanted to look out the window and there was a there is about a foot and a half maybe a foot ledge in on the interior of the window and the air-conditioned heat vents are under that and they would sit there and look out the window. Well, the first time I sat them there, I realized if the window was open, anything could happen. So we immediately put bars on the outside of the windows. Looks like burglar bars and you'd wonder who would break in 21 flights up but that wasn't the point was the little baby Chloe just 18 months old Chloe Wiegand dangled out the window or did she fall from an open window again I'm Nancy Grace this is Crime Stories thank you for being with us and an all-star panel with us Jason Oceans veteran criminal defense attorney joining me out of new york cloyd steiger 36 years seattle

pd 22 years homicide detective author of homicide the view from inside the yellow tape joseph scott morgan professor forensics jacksonville state university and author of blood beneath my feet on amazon forensic psychiatrist out of the flor jurisdiction, Dr. Daniel Bober. With me, Dr. Kendall Crowns, deputy medical examiner in Travis County, Texas. But right now, to Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. What happened, Dave? Nancy, we got two different reports on this when it first happened. And it sounded like the grandfather was dangling his 18 month old

grandchild out this window wait a minute wait a minute the last time i heard that phraseology was when michael jackson dangled blanket out off a balcony in front of the fans and we knew what happened because it was all on video jason oceansceans, do you remember that? He should have been charged with child endangerment right then. I do remember it well. I mean, the visual of that and the one-handed and literally dangling down, it was horrifying. Again, you come upon yourself as a parent and thinking, are those any actions that I would take or risk with my children? And certainly to Michael Jackson, dangling as you bring that image back was horribly dangerous and terrifically irresponsible. Back to you, Dave Mack, investigative reporter, CrimeOnline.com.

Tell me about the cruise. Was it Royal Caribbean? Yes, ma'am. It was Royal Caribbean cruise, and they were actually docked in San Juan. Now, the story of dangling the baby actually came from Royal Caribbean, and there's a reason for that, Nancy, because this grandfather was not dangling his 18-month-old baby out of a window. It's a whole lot worse than that. Explain. Nancy, they were on the 11th floor of this incredible cruise ship docked in San Juan. It was a kid's play area. Again, kid's play area, a water park area, 11 stories up. And the grandfather has his 18-month-old grandchild, and they go over to a window, okay? It's a glass wall overlooking so everybody

can see they're 11 stories up in a kid's area he he sets his 18 month old grandchild on like a banister railing okay where she can look now this is something they do at hockey games for her older brother where they pound on the glass watching the game. And that's what 18-month-old Chloe wanted to do. Grandfather lifts her up. She reaches to bang on the window, and Nancy, 11 stories up in this kid's zone play area, there, my goodness. That's, I didn't realize that part of the scenario, that they thought the window was closed and the little girl was going to knock on the window and instead just went out an open window

on the 11th floor of a cruise ship in a kid's zone area? Wow. I did not see that coming. That's a lot different story than what we've been told. Take a listen to our friends at WPLG. This is Trent Kelly. That attorney today strongly disputing some of the initial reports that were put out by Puerto Rican authorities. We have some landscaping here going to get to that. We're going to get to that. We're going to get to that. We're going to get to that. We're strongly disputing some of the initial reports that were put out by Puerto Rican authorities. We

have some landscaping here going on right behind us. Puerto Rican officials, though, initially said that that two that the one year old died after she slipped from her grandfather's arms. But today her family's attorney says

that's not the case at all. In fact, that family didn't even know that the window was open at the time. Let's go ahead and show you some brand new photos, if we can, of that one-year-old girl. This is Chloe Weigand. Her family is from South Bend, Indiana. Her father, in fact, is a police officer up there. In some of these photos, you can see that little girl with her grandfather. I believe we have another photo now showing the actual area on the ship where this all happened. That is on Deck 11 of the Freedom of the Seas. That's a cruise ship that currently sails out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The mom, Kimberly, reveals that when she was first told, quote, something had happened to Chloe,

mommy was unaware that Chloe had gone through an open window. And she ran up to the kid's zone demanding to know where was her baby. She says she looked outside and saw the cement the baby fell down to. She had no idea the baby had gone out a window. She says she just saw Sam standing next to the wall of windows screaming and banging on it and there was someone trying to stop me as she was screaming take me to my baby where is my baby crime stories with nancy grace the girl's grandfather saying he picked the toddler up so she could look outside and bang

on the windows he says he set her on a railing against what he thought was a closed window in the ship's play area. When they told me Chloe died, I didn't know that she went out a window. I just saw Sam standing next to the wall of windows by the kids' flash pad, screaming and banging on it. And there was like somebody from Royal Caribbean thatbean they kept trying to stop me and i just kept saying take me to my baby where is my baby has he been able to explain to you how this happened he was extremely hysterical the thing that he has repeatedly told us is i believe that there was glass he will cry over and and over. Royal Caribbean issued a statement following the charges saying in part this was a tragic incident. Previously saying they were assisting police with the investigation. The family telling Savannah they believe Royal

Caribbean could have prevented the accident by taking additional safety precautions. The family spokesman adding in a statement overnight, Royal Caribbean still has not given us the opportunity to view surveillance video they have of the incident, adding they plan to file a lawsuit very shortly. The attorney representing Sam Minello, the grandfather, tells us this morning that his client has now been released and is free and is heading home. The family still believes, the attorney says, that that security video will be the best evidence to show that this was a tragedy and an accident, but not a crime. Wow. You are hearing our friend NBC, that was Carrie Sanders, as well as Kimberly, the mom of baby Chloe, now dead after a dream of a lifetime cruise on Royal Caribbean

goes horribly, horribly wrong. I'm looking at the window, the open window shown in an exterior image taken after the incident. The family says the granddad simply did not realize the window was open when he propped her up. And I'm thinking back, I'm thinking back, Cloyd Steiger with me, 22 years homicide detective. Cloyd, when we have taken children on Disney cruises in the kid zone, which I'm always a nervous wreck leaving them in the kid zone, usually end up sitting outside to make sure some freak doesn't go in and out undetected. They have all sorts of security precautions in place. You can't, even I couldn't go in to get my own children out unless I hit an automated electronically read wristband decoder, which pops up as to who I am and what my children are in there and how long they've been in there and what cabin I'm in and all our relevant

information. But I don't recall windows being in the kids area. They have a little cooking area and there are windows there, as I recall, but they're windows that don't open like porthole windows. I mean, they're big, they're big windows, like maybe two to four feet across. No,

make that about four feet across. They're circular, but you can't open them. So the children couldn't possibly get out the window. Weigh in. I have no idea why you would have a window that large that could open on that level of a ship, whether it's in a child's area or not,

but especially in a child's area. But first of all, let me tell you what a tragedy this whole case is. When I first heard those news reports that he dangled his granddaughter, I was outraged and thought they needed to charge him. But now, of course, everything's been walked back. And you wonder what's on those surveillance videos that would cause them to charge this grandfather with this terrible thing. Of course, he'll suffer the rest of his life as will the mother and the rest of the family already. It's just a tragedy all the way around. And what the heck is that window doing

in a play area or on the 11th floor of the Loper that much at all anyway? We just brought up a good point, Cloyd Steiger. I recall, and we've taken the children on three Disney cruises, that everywhere you go, there's surveillance video. I remember walking round and around and around the deck, you know, for exercise, and the twins would be running along beside me. Everywhere I looked up, there was a surveillance video camera everywhere. And the same is true here. With me, forensics expert, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University,

and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, Joseph Scott Morgan. Surveillance video is playing a key role in this. And cops say they did not charge the suspect, the grandpa, Sam Anello, until after they reviewed the videotape. Joe Scott? Yeah, that's an interesting development, Nancy. And, you know, going back to what Cloyd had said very quickly, you know, Cloyd out of the Seattle area, if I'm not mistaken, I started my career in New Orleans. I'm assuming that we kind of run parallel relative to our experiences, having to work cases that originate off of ships. It was one of the biggest headaches

for me working for the coroner's office, having to deal with cruise ships and having to deal with tanker ships, because it's like you're in a world of, it's in a world that you don't have control over so much like you do on the land okay because it's completely separate and this environment is really hard it's very difficult for an investigator to work in to glean the appropriate amount of information and to really put the pieces together first off you don't know if the people that you're dealing with uh english is their first language secondly procedurally they do things completely different they're not held to the same restrictions, say, that we are from an investigative standpoint, off of outside of that ship.

So it raises a lot of questions for me as to what information they were initially given and now what has come about as a result of this. We are talking about an 18-month-old baby girl, Chloe, who falls from the 11th story on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. I'm looking at the window right now, and there, the windows are tall. It looks like the whole wall is made up of windowed panes. The windows look to be about three feet wide by about two and a half feet tall. And there is a little ledge. I mean, this window looks like it's about four or five feet up off the ground, but there's a ledge there that a child could sit on to look out.

The window on the far left is the one where Chloe fell through by being held by her grandfather. It appears to have handles that allow them to slide open. I'm looking at them right now, including the wooden railing Chloe was propped up on by her granddad. The windows slide open from the right to the left. And there's a handle to open and close the window why in the world would you have a window of that size the perfect size for a kid to crawl or jump out of in the the kids area to jason oceans veteran trial lawyer what about it jason nancy you know what i'm concerned about? I'm concerned that,

right, in the earlier vision of Michael Jackson dangling a blanket out the window, and then looking back and peeling it back, and why is there a window? Why is there a ledge by a window? Why is it designed that way to look out? Seems to be the whole purpose. And so, you know, economics takes a value in this and in an overcharge. The ship and the line and their relationship with the island are critical for the economy. If the ship line takes a hit because they were criminally negligent. Oh, golly. You know what you're reminding me of, Jason?

Go ahead, Nancy. You're reminding me of the Natalie Holloway case, where in that case, the island did everything they could to hinder the investigation of the disappearance of Natalie Holloway. And in this case, as a matter of fact, the attorney for the family is saying that they've been trying to get that closed-circuit TV, that surveillance footage,

and Royal Caribbean has not given them the footage. Reports say that the lawyers for Grandpa in San Juan might get the footage sometime soon but it seems like there's some attempt right now to play everything close to the vest this is a murder investigation crime stories with nancy grace 18 month old chloe weekend was just learning how to talk her family says she loved banging on the glass at her brother's hockey games it's's why her grandfather, 51-year-old Salvatore Nello, lifted her up to what he thought was a wall of enclosed windows on their Royal Caribbean cruise ship during a family vacation this past July. But one of the 11th floor windows in a children's play area was open. Chloe fell out of her

grandfather's arms. Attorney Michael Kornakia says he's never seen a case like this. Did they have to prosecute this case? No, they didn't have to, but it's discretionary. Usually when there's a dead person, in this case an infant, there's an inquiry that they want to make and they've decided that they want to find the facts and they're accusing him of the lowest level of homicide. Prosecutors in Puerto Rico charged Anello with negligent homicide Monday, but the Wiegand family believes the cruise line is responsible, not Chloe's grandfather. Michael Winkleman is their attorney. The family is devastated by it. They find it unnecessary and unfair, and it's really pouring salt on the open wounds of this

grieving family. The family is planning to sue Royal Caribbean. The cruise line told us they cannot comment because of the pending lawsuit. Anello is expected back in court in San Juan, Puerto Rico next month, nor he faces three years in prison if convicted. Wow. To Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Dave, what can you tell me about the charges against the grandfather, Sam Anello? Well, it is the lowest level that they can charge him. And actually, in San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico is considered a misdemeanor. But there's something important about this that you've mentioned several times, Nancy,

about a window that can be opened on the 11th floor in a kid's area. According to Royal Caribbean, their explanation is they needed it for ventilation. Now, this ship, Freedom of the Seas, was actually finished in construction in 2006. And the laws have changed since then. Okay. The newer ships do not have windows that open in these levels, but back then it did. And even though this was refurbished three years ago, they did not change the window locking assignments. You know, in New York, you have to have, now, I don't think you had to have it when we install them, but you have to have security rails outside your windows at a certain level once you're above a certain floor.

And this is exactly why. And I'm thinking back to Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist. I'm thinking back on the Disney cruise ship, and I'm looking at these windows. The dining area on the Disney ship ship and I'm looking at these windows these this the dining area on the Disney ship looked like this they're floor-to-ceiling windows but they didn't open and to me it's almost an admission of guilt for the windows to open in 2006 now they don't anymore because it's a clear danger but when they refurbished it, they did not correct them. I totally agree with you, Nancy.

I mean, this is beyond stupidity. Why would you have windows that open at that height in a children's area? It just it's inviting a disaster. I mean, I could see having windows that don't open, but windows that open, I think it makes absolutely no sense. So I definitely think that if that turns out to be true, there's definitely some contribution on the part of Royal Caribbean to this tragic accident. I mean, it's akin to saying, yeah, we found out that cars really need, minivans really need to have airbags in them, but we didn't add them. They refurbished, but they did not correct the windows. Joining me, special guest, deputy Medical Examiner from Travis County, Texas, Dr. Kendall Crowns.

Dr. Crowns, listen to this. How are you getting through just every day, just getting up out of bed? The first 30 seconds of the day, I don't remember what happened. And then it comes back and I relive what happened. The thing that I latch on to is her memory. She just exuded love. Can Chloe say let it go? Let it go. Kimberly Wiegand says her daughter Chloe was the personification of goodness. She loved watching her brother play hockey. She loved gardening with me. She could get anybody to smile.

There she is! I just know that she was destined to do such great things. But even in her short life, I truly believe she changed so many lives. Her first kiss was with me. Like, kiss, kiss. And then I had to record it and send it to Kim. Oh, my stars. You are hearing baby Chloe.

And you are hearing her mom, Kimberly, and her dad, Alan, as they talk to my longtime friend, Savannah Guthrieie from Court TV, now at NBC Today Show. Oh, that was just heart-wrenching. To Dr. Kendall Crowns joining me, Deputy Medical Examiner, Travis County, Texas. It's a real honor to have you on with us, Dr. Crowns. When you perform autopsies on children, that's got to just break your heart. I mean, you may never get the chance like you just did to actually hear the victim laughing and giggling. But how do you brace yourself?

What does it do to you and your psyche to perform autopsies on children? Nancy, that's the hardest part of my job. It's actually hearing that, I'm sorry, it's upset me quite a bit. I apologize. Dr. Krause, I feel the same way. When I just heard her, and then I think of what happened to her going 11 stories and landing on cement. Yeah. My only consolation is that she died instantly.

Yeah, yeah. I'll put myself together here. When I interview people or when I was investigating homicides, it would just break my heart when I would meet with a family and they would show me photo albums and videos. It's just heartbreaking. I don't know how you do it, Dr. Crowns. Well, so I always tell people the hardest part of my job is not

actually doing the autopsies. It's dealing with the grieving family members because they've lost someone and often they're very upset and they often have to have someone to yell at, which is usually the medical examiner. You know, we're part of the grieving process. We help them as best we can. With children, it's actually fairly hard sometimes because, you know, it's a life, a potential that got taken too soon type of thing. But I always approach it as what can we learn from it? What can we do to prevent this from happening to another child? And what can we do to help the family, you know, and at least give them some

closure? So when you get a pediatric autopsy, that's the way I usually approach it is, how can I help this to not happen to another child, or at a minimum to help that family understand what happened and at least help them with the grieving process. But kids are always hard. And, you know, I rarely hear the end of the story that you just played. So that just was, that was just really, really hard to hear. You know, what you're saying is resonating with me, Dr. Kendall Crowns, because you're on a mission, as many of us are, to change things, to stop evil or bad things from happening as best we can. Take a listen to Mom Kimberly as she describes

the moment she realized something was horribly wrong. Here she is speaking with Savannah Guthrie. I guess I would say this about the window. When they told me Chloe had died, I didn't know that she went out a window. I just saw Sam standing next to the wall of windows by the kids' flash pad and screaming and banging on it. There was somebody from Royal Caribbean that kept trying to stop me. And I just kept saying, take me to my baby. Where is my baby? Take me to my baby.

I didn't even notice a window. I ran over there and I looked over. And it wasn't water down there. It was concrete. It was just honestly, to lose our baby this way is just unfathomable. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace her first word was hi i mean she loved people the 18 month old little girl was the light of her parents life and her sudden loss aboard a royal caribbean cruise ship in puerto rico

has crushed her tight-knit family. We have a lot of questions, primarily, why is there an open window in the kids' play area, 11 stories off the ground? Chloe's family says she fell through that open window, said to slide open to provide ventilation in what's known as the H2O zone aboard the cruise ship. A family attorney says the toddler's grandfather, Sam, placed her on a railing to look outside, believing he was lifting the toddler behind a wall of glass, something they did often at hockey games at home, with Chloe banging on the glass. Has he been able to explain to you how this happened? He was extremely hysterical. The thing that he has repeatedly told us is I believe that there was glass. He will cry over and over and no point ever, ever has Sam ever put our kids in danger. He must be distraught.

Very, very distraught. I mean, you can barely look at him without him crying. Can you imagine hoisting up baby Chloe to bang on the glass and then she makes that first bang and goes overboard and you're standing right there as she flies through the air and you can't catch her or stop her oh dear lord in heaven this family on a dream vacation that turns into a nightmare in a Royal Caribbean cruise line. Their little baby, 18 months old, now dead. We want answers. You are hearing my longtime friend, Savannah Guthrie, speaking to Kimberly and Alan. How did it go wrong? Take a listen to this. This one mother just came and held me and embraced me and I'll never forget it. She just said, God, watch over this family. I just

want to thank her. I don't know where she is or who she is. There was one point where my son said, mom, I wish I would have been standing there because I would have jumped and I would have saved her. And that was like for me because I know that he believes that, you know, and to know he's living with that, it's just so hard. I never want another mother to have to experience this or to see what I had to see or scream how I had to scream or to have to console their child. Do you blame anyone? Do you blame the cruise company? We obviously blame them. There are a million things that could have been done to make that safer.

I know my mom was asking people, why on earth is there a window open on the 11th floor without a screen or anything? And their response to that was, we need ventilation. Get a fan for Pete's sake. An open window? An open window in a kid zone on a cruise ship? Oh, I just, I don't know how this granddad will ever live with himself, whether it's his fault or not. And many people, including Chloe's family, say it was not his fault, but he's facing jail time. Dave Mack, what about cameras and crew? Tell me what you know about this particular cruise ship. Well, this particular cruise ship, Freedom of the Seas, actually, when it was first commissioned in 2006, was the largest ship ever built by man.

And since then, of course, other ships have been built that are bigger. But at the time it was built, it was state of the art. Laws and things have changed since then. Now, they've got 900 digital cameras recording 24-7. Yet, I'm very concerned, Nancy, that Royal Caribbean and San Juan, Puerto Rico, nobody's turned over any of the surveillance video to this family so that their attorneys can even look at it. It seems very odd when you've got a crew of 1,300 people. They handle nearly 4,000 passengers. They've got cameras rolling over every nook and cranny of this ship. There's plenty of video that will clearly show what happened exactly in that moment. And again, you're going back to this 11 stories up in an

area that is built for children to play, and there is an open window. I'm just having a hard time taking it in because I just have to warn everybody, and I write about it extensively in my book coming out, Don't Be a Victim. Dangers in traveling. You're talking about the San Juan, Puerto Rico police. Well, it ain't Kansas anymore. You're not in the U.S. where you have rights and protections under the law, even in civil cases. They do not play by our rules.

Yes, they're our territory, but it's a different world. When you talk about it legally, Jason Oceans, Jason Oceans is with me, veteran trial lawyer. So Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, right? So under federal law, they, they're within our federal system, but they're, uh, an individual state and, uh, you know, within the sovereign of the United States. So it is a completely different system. And, and, and from the facts that we're, we're hearing, there's a vested interest between this cruise ship line and its stop off in San Juan. It needs to stay populated and have a, it needs to have a

good reputation. If it doesn't, the local economy suffers. Well, you are so right. You really hit the nail on the head, Jason Oceans, because the lawyer, Michael Winkleman, has posed a lot of questions over the, regarding the integrity of the Puerto Rican prosecutors, even claiming they have an ulterior motive in blaming the granddad instead of criticizing the world's biggest cruise line operator that sends Puerto Rico millions and millions of dollars. It's their working theory. But he goes on to state that he was surprised there was an effort to try and have the case even go forward. Overcharging. I mean, complete overcharging. Not even charging. I mean, it would be an investigation into an accident and having the ability as, you know, with all the cameras and everything as discussed.

You'd be able to see it. They don't want to see that and they don't want us to see that. And that's why that ship and the codes have changed to retrofit it. And if there was a ventilation problem, you don't fix it with an open window or an accessible window on 11th floor overlooking the, you know, in the children's zone with a ledge for sitting. I agree. Three hundred percent. The ventilation. close the window. To Dr. Kendall Crowns, joining us, Deputy Medical Examiner, Travis County, Texas. What would officially be the cause of death for this little tot, Chloe? The cause of death would be because she's fallen from height. I believe it was 11 stories, so that's about 119 feet. So she would get major fractures and

injuries to her internal organs. So her cause of death would be blunt force injuries. It was 150 feet. 150? Oh, okay. Yeah, because it went all the way from the window down to cement, a cement dock where the ship, Freedom of the Seas was docked. I'm looking at a diagram right now showing how Chloe fell 150 feet from the ship's 11th deck to the hard cement below. Take a listen to our friends at WPLG and the attorney Michael Winkleman. The grandfather takes him over the

windows. He thinks it's all glass. There's a wood railing right there. He puts her up on there thinking that she's going to bang on the glass and it's going to be great. And she goes to bang on the glass and the next thing he knows she's gone. You said this was a preventable injury. Can you talk about that? Absolutely. What was preventable here was really, I think Royal Caribbean needs to answer this question, is why would you ever in a kid's area, put windows that passengers can open? A fun-filled family vacation that was set to take in the sights at San Juan, St. Martin, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, all came to a grinding halt. Around 4.30 in the afternoon, passengers in the dining area overlooking a pool hear screams.

They discover this little girl lying motionless on the cement Pan American dock below. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.