Salvatore Anello’s video will shake you to the bone. The footage first surfaced on the internet in 2019 and showed Salvatore dangling and throwing his 18-month-old granddaughter off the 11th floor of a cruise ship.
The unfortunate 18-month-old baby was named Chloe Wiegand. Salvatore Anello was playing with his granddaughter in the “Kids Water Zone” of the Freedom of the Seas ship when he lifted her out of the 11th floor window he knew was open.
In the days following Chloe’s tragic death, Salvatore claimed he was unaware the window was open.
The Wiegand family had sued the cruise line after Chloe’s death in July, arguing that the company failed to protect Chloe and other vacationers from potentially dangerous open windows.
Anello has denied knowing the window was open, insisting he picked Chloe up so she could hit the glass like she would at her older brother’s hockey games.
Royal Caribbean management took it upon themselves to investigate the matter closely. A thorough investigation revealed that Salvatore Anello, wearing a dark shirt, stuck his head out the window for 8 seconds before picking up Chloe in her white sun hat from the floor.
“When he arrives at the open window, and while Chloe is on the floor, Mr. Anello leans his upper body over the wooden railing and out the window frame for about eight seconds. Since Mr. Anello himself had leaned out of the window, he knew full well that the window was open. the papers said, according to WTHR.
Royal Caribbean said the video shows Anello lifting his granddaughter over the wooden railing to the open window and holding her precariously for about 34 seconds, during which time she unfortunately fell.
The Caribbean went on to say that Anello’s act of lifting and dangling Chloe from the window classifies it as a reckless threat to her life.
Anello faced criminal charges in Puerto Rico, where prosecutors charged him with negligent homicide in Chloe’s death.
The case against the Royal Caribbean took a turn when Anello pleaded guilty in court.
What happened to Salvatore Anello?
After pleading guilty to the death of his 18-month-old granddaughter aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in 2019, Salvatore was sentenced to three years of probation, according to a statement from the Puerto Rican government.
He will serve his sentence in Michigan, where he lives.
In a post-conviction statement, Anello said he agreed to plead guilty so that he and the girl’s family could focus on a civil suit against the cruise line.
Anello was charged with negligent homicide months after the incident and initially pleaded not guilty, but he changed his plea as part of a deal with prosecutors.
