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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

MOM "ALL DOLLED UP" TAKING SELFIES, TOT-SON, 3, DROWNS, SUES WATER PARK

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

True Crime, News

4.28.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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:

  • Eric Faddis – Partner at Varner Faddis Elite Legal, Former Felony Prosecutor and Current Criminal Defense and Civil Litigation Attorney; Instagram: @e_fad @varnerfaddis; TikTok: @varnerfaddis
  • Caryn Stark – Psychologist, renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
  • 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
  • Dr. Thomas Coyne - Chief Medical Examiner, District 2 Medical Examiner's Office, State of Florida; Forensic Pathologist, Neuropathologist, Toxicologist; X: @DrTMCoyne
  • Elaine Aradillas  - Investigative Reporter;  X: @theelaineja, Instagram: @the_elaine

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

0:06.0

According to witnesses, Mommy is all dolled up, taking countless selfies and singing into her iPhone while her taught son just three years old drowns.

0:18.9

And tonight, she's suing the Water Park. Good evening. I'm Nancy

0:24.5

Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. The water park just got sued, but according

0:31.3

to witnesses, Mommy was in a completely different area, left her son alone for over an hour while she took selfies and sang

0:40.3

into her iPhone. I never thought about putting on a mouthful of red lipstick to go to the water

0:46.3

park with the twins, but to each her own. Joining us an all-star panel to make sense of what we are hearing right now.

0:55.2

This is what we understand as to how the day started.

0:59.9

Listen.

1:00.6

It's a beautiful Mother's Day weekend when Jessica Weaver and her three-year-old son,

1:05.3

Anthony, arrive at El Paso's Camp Cohen Water Park.

1:08.9

The little boy is playing in a four feet deep section of the pool

1:12.3

while his mother is lying out in the sun. Jessica entertains herself with her phone while

1:17.6

Anthony is seen eating chips and spitting them out in the water as he plays. His mother doesn't

1:23.1

seem to notice or care as other parents get frustrated at the disgusting addition to the water.

1:29.1

Joining me and all-star panel straight out to Elaine Adidas, investigative reporter.

1:33.6

Elaine, thank you for being with us.

1:35.7

Okay, so the first sign of trouble was when all the other moms see the little three-year-old

1:42.7

spitting his food back into the water.

1:45.7

Right.

1:46.0

In fact, one mother actually called the police and reported this.

1:51.0

This is not something you want to endure after spending all this money to go into a water park,

...

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