The Indiana grandfather charged in the death of the toddler who took a fatal fall from a cruise ship over the summer said no punishment could be worse than losing his granddaughter.
Even the three-year prison sentence that Salvatore Anello, 51, could receive if convicted of negligent homicide won’t be as painful as the loss of 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand, he told NBC News on Wednesday.
“They can’t do anything worse to me than has already happened,” Anello said.
Prosecutors in Puerto Rico say Anello on July 7 raised the tot up to an open window on the 11th floor of Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, which was docked in San Juan.
The girl plunged 115 feet to the concrete on the Pan American dock II below.
A lawyer for the family has said Anello believed the window was closed when he raised Chloe up so she could bang on the glass, just like she did at her brother’s hockey games.
Parents Alan and Kimberly Wiegand have said they don’t blame Anello for the tragedy, instead faulting the cruise line for leaving the window open.
Anello appeared in court in Puerto Rico on Wednesday for a brief hearing. He is scheduled to return to court Dec. 17.