Long minutes of inattention, then horror. A Texas grand jury has indicted a 35-year-old woman for her role in the death of her child, who died on May 13, 2023, at the age of three. That day, Jessica Weaver and her son Anthony Malave went to a new water park in El Paso that had just opened. This inauguration day was marked by a terrible tragedy: a lifeguard pulled out the inert body of little Anthony, who was lying in 120 centimeters of water. The boy could not be resuscitated.
According to several witnesses, Jessica Weaver was not watching her son at the time of the tragedy, explains “People”. A client saw the thirty-year-old sitting near the swimming pool, “alone on her phone, without ever raising her head or paying attention to anything”. Another person said Anthony’s mother was lying on a towel and “singing a song that her phone was playing.” This witness estimates the time the Texan spent without raising her head at seven minutes. According to a third customer, Anthony was swimming unsupervised and not wearing sleeves.
In June 2023, Jessica Weaver filed a lawsuit against the city of El Paso and the water park owner for negligence, claiming that there were not enough lifeguards that day and that the few that were there were incompetent.
Three months later, the Texan was arrested. His lawyer then claimed that his arrest had been ordered in retaliation for his complaint against the city. “It’s political and sad. However, we are convinced that (…) the truth will triumph,” declared Me Ryan MacLeod. This week, a grand jury decided to indict the 30-year-old, paving the way for a trial.
