The family of a 1-year-old girl who died after falling more than 10 stories from a cruise ship window is speaking out about her cause of death.
Chloe Weigand fell from the 11th floor window of a Royal Carribean cruise ship in Puerto Rico on Sunday while she was with her grandfather. Initial reports indicated that her grandfather may have accidentally dropped her, but her family is denying it.
Michael Winkleman, the family's attorney, said in an interview with NBC's TODAY show that Wiegand fell from a window after the grandfather put her on a ledge, unaware that the window was open.
"Essentially, her grandfather lifts her up and puts her on a railing and where he thinks that there is glass there because it's clear, but it turns out there was no glass there," Winkleman said. "She goes to bang on the glass like she would have at one of those hockey rinks, and the next thing you know, she's gone."
Wiegand's family said she loved staying by glass and windows in order to see what was happening, and would often watch her brother's hockey games behind glass. Winkleman believes that the Royal Caribbean should not have had the window open in a children's play area.
"Why in the world would you leave a window open in an entire glass wall full of windows in a kid's area?” he said. “I mean, why would you have that kind of a hidden danger without any warning, without any sign, without any notice?"
Royal Caribbean also issued a statement to NBC News, saying they were "deeply saddened" by the tragedy, but declined to comment further on the incident.
"We’ve made our Care Team available to assist the family with any resources they need," the company said.
Weigand's father is a police officer in South Bend, Indiana. The city's police department also issued a statement offering condolences to her family.
"The South Bend Police Department offers its sincerest condolences to Officer Alan Weigand and his family during this difficult time following the tragic loss of their child while in Puerto Rico," their statement read. "The department asks the community to pray for the Weigand family as they grieve and to respect their privacy."
South Bend mayor and 2020 democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg also tweeted a statement on the tragedy, saying "the city is holding his family in our hearts."
