Jessica Weaver, a 35-year-old woman from Indiana, has been accused of neglect resulting in the drowning of her three-year-old son, Anthony Leo Malave, at Camp Cohen Water Park in El Paso, Texas. The incident occurred in May when Weaver, claimed to be constantly on her phone, was not providing her child with sufficient supervision.
Anthony drowned in a section of the pool that was four-feet deep, and did not have a life vest on, even though the facility had such safety equipment available. As per the park’s established policies, children aged six and below must have a swimming adult directly supervising them. Multiple witnesses gave statements about Weaver, saying that she was completely engrossed in her phone and was ignoring her child.
Weaver was taken into custody on August 30 in Indiana and did not resist extradition. She was put in the El Paso County Jail on September 22, although she was later released on a $100,000 surety bond. In response, Weaver’s attorneys are filing a $1 million lawsuit against the city on the grounds of “gross negligence” by the park and its lifeguards.
This suit argues that the city unfairly suspects Weaver in her son’s death and that the criminal charges filed against her were a backlash for their ongoing litigation about wrongful death. Additionally, they maintain that the city didn’t demand any qualifications for its lifeguard recruits and allegedly obliterated the surveillance video from the day of the accident.
Nevertheless, Bill Hicks, the El Paso District Attorney, has claimed that the civil proceedings and the criminal lawsuit are distinct from each other, and that each child death is scrutinized ardently. Hicks has refused to comment further in view of Weaver’s civil attorney.