The Camp Cohen Waterpark in northeast El Paso is holding a “soft opening” as staff prepares for the summer.
The playful sounds of children at the park are interrupted by lifeguards blowing whistles and ordering everyone out of the pool. An unconscious boy, not wearing a life jacket, is pulled from a four-foot-deep section of the water.
Multiple signs at Camp Cohen state that children 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.”
Parents gather around as lifeguards perform life-saving measures, but the boy’s parents are not immediately identified.
Jessica Weaver, a 35-year-old single mother, lounges at Camp Cohen Waterpark while her 3-year-old son, Anthony, plays among other children. The scene is disrupted by lifeguards blowing whistles and clearing the pool. About five minutes later, Jessica notices the commotion and moves toward the pool, searching for Anthony. As she approaches, she realizes lifeguards are working on her son. She jumps into the pool, rushing to him.
Investigators probing the Mother’s Day weekend drowning of 3-year-old Anthony Malave are surprised to learn that his mother has filed a lawsuit against Destination El Paso, the company managing the city’s watermarks, and the City of El Paso.
Jessica Weaver, represented by a Houston law firm, alleges gross negligence and wrongful death. The lawsuit claims that during the park’s “soft opening,” the city and Destination El Paso “focused more on packing the watermark with people and ensuring the live band was playing” than on safety.
Two months after Jessica filed the lawsuit and nearly four months after Anthony’s death, she is arrested. Authorities in Indiana arrest Weaver on a fugitive from justice warrant issued in El Paso, Texas. After waiving extradition, she is transported to El Paso, where she is released on a $100,000 bond.
Weaver’s attorneys in the wrongful death case against the city call her arrest a “retaliatory tactic” in response to her lawsuit
Joining Nancy Grace today:
Additional Guests
Dr. Tom Griffiths -Drowning Expert – President and Founder, Aquatic Safety Research Group, co-host of the podcast “The Drowning Files”; Creator of Dr. Tom’s Lifeguard Vision app; Author of “Dr. Tom’s Lifeguard Chronicles”; “Safer Beaches” ; “Beter Beaches” and “The Complete Swimming Pool Reference”; website: www.aquaticsafetygroup.com and https://drtomslifeguardvision.com/; X: @AquaticSafetyGr; Facebook: AquaticSafetyResearchGroup
Elaine Aradillas – Investigative Reporter; X: @theelaineja, Instagram: @the_elaine
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[Feature Photo:Jessica Weaver and Son/Facebook]
