Chloe Wiegand's grandfather has been charged over her tragic death. Photo / Supplied
Chloe Wiegand's grandfather has been charged over her tragic death. Photo / Supplied
The grandfather who allegedly dropped his young granddaughter from the 11th floor of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico is expected to appear in court charged with negligent homicide.
Salvatore "Sam" Anello was on-board the cruise ship holding the 18-month-old when she fell through what his family called a hole among a "wall of windows" and onto the dock below.
It is alleged Mr Anello had held Chloe up to what he thought was a closed window to allow her to bang on the glass, a game she loved to play at home.
Toddler Chloe Wiegand fell to her death from a window on Royal Caribbean cruise ship Freedom of the Seas in July. Photo / Supplied
However, the pane of glass was an open window and she fell straight through, reports news.com.au.
On October 29, a judge ordered the arrest of Mr Anello, who was to front court facing the charge of negligent homicide. On Wednesday, the judge was expected to set a trial date for Mr Anello, according to CBS reports.
The family of 18-month-old Chloe is said to be shocked Puerto Rican prosecutors are holding Anello responsible, according to their lawyer, Michael Winkleman.
"The family's really not doing well. I think they're really devastated by the fact that these charges have been filed and that this case continues to go forward," he told CBS.
"They're shocked because they think it's groundless. … They certainly didn't want charges to be filed."
Mr Winkleman said the tragic incident was caught on CCTV which is likely to prove crucial in the case. The video has not been made public.
"You have to assume that it shows something that really led the Puerto Rican authorities to believe there was criminal offence, so clearly there's something in that video," he said.
Earlier, the family lawyer Michael Winkleman said the decision to press charges was "salt in open wounds".
"They feel devastated and distraught," Mr Winkleman told PEOPLE.
"They stand 100 per cent behind [the grandfather] and his version of events that he thought this was a wall of windows."
The window (marked in red) where little Chloe fell. Photo / Supplied
At the time of the horror incident in July, Mr Anello blamed Royal Caribbean for failing to close the window inside the child's play area.
Chloe's mother, Kimberley Wiegand, was on-board the cruise ship with all three of their children and both sets of grandparents, including Kimberley's father, Mr Anello.
The Wiegand family travelled from Indiana to cruise around the Southern Caribbean islands – a journey that started and ended in the harbourside town of San Juan in Puerto Rico, stopping at St Maarten, Dominica and even Barbados.
In the moments following the tragedy, witnesses heard a "cry of pain" and wails of agony from Mr Anello and several other family members on-board the ship.
Toddler Chloe Wiegand fell to her death on board a cruise ship. Photo / Supplied
According to local media outlet El Vocero, some were so hysterical after Chloe's death that they had to be sedated by medics.
Following the tragedy, questions around whether Mr Anello's negligence led to Chloe's death were quickly defused by the family, who appeared on the US version of Today in the weeks following the tragedy.
Mrs Wiegand and her police officer husband Alan spoke of their grief and horror during what was supposed to be the family holiday of a lifetime.
Mr Anello, who is Chloe Wiegand's father, has been charged with negligent homicide. Photo / Supplied
"I didn't know that she went out a window," she said through tears during the interview.
"I just saw Sam standing next to the wall of windows just screaming and banging on it. There was somebody from Royal Caribbean they kept trying to stop me. I just kept saying take me to my baby, where is my baby? I didn't even notice the window," she said.
"I looked over it and it wasn't water down there, it was concrete. Honestly to lose our baby this way is just unfathomable."
Mr Winkleman says the girl's death was an accident and not a crime.
"There's a feeling of shock as to why the charges were even filed," he said.
"They're in the beginning stages of a lengthy process that is grief. They were trying to put their lives back together, and you throw this into the mix and it puts them back to square one."
According to People, the Puerto Rican Department of Justice allege Mr Anello "negligently exposed the child to the abyss through a window on the 11th floor."
