
A Texas mother who is accused of sitting "glued to her phone" while her three-year-old son drowned at a water park has finally been charged.
Jessica Weaver was indicted on December 12 on one count of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury or deficiency in connection with the May 13, 2023, death of her son, Anthony Leo Malave, El Paso County Court records show.
As previously reported, Weaver, 35, was first arrested on an injury to child charge on September 22, 2023, but was released later that day on a $100,000 bond, according to jail records. A court hearing on the indictment has not yet been set.
Weaver was Allegedly on Her Phone, Not Paying Attention to Her Child at the Time of the Drowning
The three-year-old child was found unresponsive in a four-foot-deep section of a pool inside the Camp Cohen Water Park in El Paso on May 13, 2023. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died the following day.
At the time of the drowning, Weaver was allegedly "by herself on her phone, never looking up or paying attention to anything" a witness told police. Several other witnesses reported the apparent "negligent" behavior of a woman matching Weaver's description on the day Anthony died.
One witness claimed "a woman, matching Weaver's description, was on her phone, sitting outside of a pool for over an hour." The person "never looked up or paid attention to anything," the witness added, according to a police report obtained by KFOX.
Child was 'Unattended,' Without a Life Vest at the Time of Drowning
Two other bystanders told police that they saw the boy without his mother, adding that they saw "Weaver laying down and singing along to her phone, for approximately seven minutes before the toddler was pulled out of the water."
Another said: "It took Weaver five minutes to run to the pool after lifeguards had blown the whistle for everyone to get out."
"Weaver did not immediately react to the situation and was surprised to learn that she was the mother of the drowning child when Weaver jumped in the water," said another witness, noting that the three-year-old was swimming "unattended and without a life vest."
The water park had also posted signs stating that children ages six and younger "must be directly attended by a swimming adult" at all times and "must be supervised by an adult within arm's reach."
Weaver's Legal Team Tried to Pin the Blame on the City, Water Park's Lifeguards
According to the arrest report another witness called the police and reported Weaver's apparent "lack of concern" for her child while at the water park that day.
Weaver's legal counsel, Ryan MacLeod, has since tried to pin blame on the city rather than the 'distracted' mother. MacLeod claimed that the city was 'more concerned with filling the park for a soft opening than safety,' Fox News reported.
However, the arrest report noted that the capacity at the water park is 1,460 and that there were approximately 466 people present that day and life vests were available.
The "negligent" mother has since filed a lawsuit against the city of El Paso, alleging that the city destroyed video of the day of the drowning. The suit also alleges that the water park's lifeguards "had zero clue how to perform medical life-saving measures after Anthony was pulled from the pool." The lawsuit remains pending in state district court.