- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
Grandpa speaks of the baby who died after falling from a cruise 1:54
(CNN) - The family of the 18-month-old baby from Indiana who fell from her grandfather's arms and died on a Royal Caribbean cruise in July, says the company is having a "false narrative" of how things happened.
Chloe Wiegand fell from the open window of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico in July.
Her grandfather, Salvatore Anello, was playing with her near a window on the 11th floor when she fell; He has been charged with negligent manslaughter. Prosecutors allege that "he negligently exposed [his granddaughter] through one of the windows," according to the Puerto Rico Department of Justice. He was released on bail and is back in Indiana.
As part of a wrongful death lawsuit that the Wiegand family filed against Royal Caribbean in December, their lawyer posted recreation photos this week, saying they are evidence that the grandfather could not physically peek out the window from which the girl fell, As the company has insured.
- Family condemns the leaking of a video that shows when a girl died on a cruise
The family's last legal claim is given in response to the motion that Royal Caribbean filed in December to dismiss the lawsuit.
The photos were taken this month on the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship from which Chloe fell. In a legal document, the family accuses Royal Caribbean of creating “a false narrative” of the incident and providing images of only two of the 13 cameras available in the area.
“We went to recreate what happened in the same boat, the same window where Mr. Anello was with Chloe. What we found fully supports his story. Images of the reconstruction are included in our presentation, ”said Michael Winkleman, the family’s lawyer.
The cruise carefully selected the video of the CCTV, says the family
Earlier this month, Royal Caribbean filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that Anello knew the window was open and held her granddaughter by the window before she died.
The measurement of the cruise line alleges that the surveillance video shows Anello walking towards a window and seemed to tip his upper body through the window for several seconds.
Anello is seen in the video lifting Chloe and holding her out of the window for 30 to 40 seconds before losing control and dropping her, the motion alleges.
Royal Caribbean presented the surveillance video and still images as evidence in its motion to dismiss the case.
In the last presentation, the lawyer of the Wiegand family identified “at least” 13 cameras in the area of the incident after inspecting the boat in January, approximately six months after the baby's death in July.
"Royal Caribbean has demonstrably lied to this court and, in doing so, Royal Caribbean has created a false narrative to accompany the video of the closed circuit television (CCTV) carefully selected by Royal Caribbean on which Royal Caribbean bases its motion to dismiss," affirms the presentation.
- There was no alcohol involved, says lawyer for the family of the girl who died after falling from a cruise
The family filed a motion last week to force Royal Caribbean to produce images of all cameras at the time of the incident.
In a statement to CNN on Thursday, Royal Caribbean said that Chloe's death "is undoubtedly a harrowing tragedy that has led to a criminal prosecution of Chloe's grandfather and a civil lawsuit filed by the lawyers of the Wiegand family."
Last year, Anello told CBS News that he initially blamed himself for Chloe's death. Now, he blames the cruise line.
“I just want the boat fixed. Just fix it. Just fix the boat. ”
The angle of recreation photos differs from cruise ship surveillance
Recreation photos show a man with measures similar to those of Anello holding a doll by a window on the cruise from several additional angles that differ from surveillance videos posted by the cruise line.
The lawsuit includes photos taken by the family lawyer recreating the tragic scene in another boat with the same design.
A recreation photo is taken two steps to the right of the CCTV camera that, according to the family, shows a "deceptive angle." That photo shows that the man could not lean "out of the window frame" due to the 18-inch distance between the rail and the window frame, the Wiegand family claims.
The man "had to lift his feet at least 17 centimeters off the ground" to touch the window with the top of his head, says the legal document.
"In fact, it would have been physically impossible for Mr. Anello to get his head out of the window frame with his feet on the deck," the court documents say.
Anello would have "required much longer arms than him" to hold Chloe out the window, says Wiegand's family lawyer.
The family's lawsuit claims that Anello lifted Chloe on the railing and held her while she leaned in when she hit the glass. There was no glass panel and she slipped from Anello's arms, falling 45 meters below the pier, which resulted in her death, the lawsuit says.
Anello did not know that some of the glass panels could open, the lawsuit says.
- Carma Hassan of CNN, Amanda Watts and Scottie Andrew contributed to this report.
