A Texas mother is being accused of ignoring her child as he drowned at a water park in El Paso.
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MYSA
By Priscilla Aguirre
A mother has been accused of playing on her phone and ignoring her toddler son as he drowned at a water park in Texas, according to a newly released court document pulled from the El Paso Times on Thursday, September 28.
Jessica Weaver, 35, was arrested and charged with injury to a child by omission on September 22 following an investigation into the death of her 3-year-old son Anthony Leo Malave. On May 13, Weaver took her son to the soft opening of the city-owned Camp Cohen Water Park.
Witnesses described Weaver as recklessly inattentive before the young boy drowned while playing in a four-feet-deep area of the pool at the park, according to the El Paso Times. The boy was less than 4 feet tall, court documents stated. The toddler also wasn't wearing a life vest, though there were numerous vests available for those in attendance, according to the publication.
In addition to being on her phone, witnesses said they saw "the mother singing along to a song that was playing and she was laying down, looking at her phone approximately seven minutes before the child/victim was getting pulled out of the water." Weaver was allegedly seen encouraging her child "to get in the pool by doing a hand gesture to go into the pool" before she began "to walk away leaving the boy by himself."
Following his death, Weaver filed a $1 million lawsuit against the City of El Paso, saying that her son's death was caused by "gross negligence" of the water park staff and undertrained lifeguards. Weaver's attorneys argue that she is being unfairly blamed for her son's death. One of Weaver's attorneys alleged that the criminal charges against Weaver were retaliation for filing the lawsuit against the City of El Paso.
Weaver was arrested in her home state of Indiana and was booked into El Paso County Jail. She was released on a $100,000 bond on September 22.