The mom of the five-year-old girl who fell overboard on a Disney cruise ship while posing for photos over the summer will not face criminal charges.
The family made headlines after the girl’s dad jumped 49 feet off the Disney Dream ship to save his daughter on June 29. He was marked a hero for grabbing hold of his daughter and treading water as the ship’s crew came to retrieve them on a rescue boat.
It was previously unclear what led to the girl’s fall as the ship was returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from the Bahamas. Now, shocking details reveal the mom’s alleged role in an incident that the Broward County State Attorney’s Office has called “merely accidental,” according to a memo obtained by The Independent. Authorities have not named the family.
The family had been walking on Deck 4 of the ship at 11:30 a.m. local time as the mom was snapping some photos of her daughter, according to the memo from Assistant State Attorney in Charge Melissa Kelly, dated July 31.
When the girl climbed onto a railing and sat down facing her mom, she lost her balance and fell backward, out of a porthole into the ocean.
The mom had told police she didn’t believe her daughter fell into the water at first since she assumed there was a glass barrier on the porthole, and then once she realized what happened, she screamed for help, according to the memo.
When the mom screamed, the dad, who was about 10 feet ahead of them, turned around to see his daughter in the water, the memo says. After the couple attempted to get help from the crew, the dad sprang into action, jumping overboard to save his daughter.
After the dad jumped off, the ship’s “Man Overboard” protocol was initiated, and a rescue boat was sent at 11:40 a.m. About 10 minutes later, the boat retrieved the dad and his daughter. They were subsequently taken to the ship’s medical center.
At a medical follow-up evaluation after the ship docked, the girl was reported to have mild hypothermia and minor lactic acidosis, which is when lactic acids build up in your blood when your tissues are deprived of oxygen. But her dad had two spinal fractures, along with lactic acidosis and hypothermia.
The mom told police she had taken many photos in front of multiple other windows and portholes on their trip, and “initially had assumed that this porthole, like many of the others she had observed throughout the ship, was equipped with a window or Plexi-glass barrier,” the memo read.
Police did observe multiple large open windows on Deck 4 that were “not guarded by any material,” according to the memo.
Kelly said she declined to charge the mom with a count of Child Neglect Without Great Bodily Harm as she was “innocently” taking photos of her daughter, believing that there was “some sort of protective barrier between the railing and the water.”
“This was an isolated incident, and all evidence shows that it was merely accidental,” Kelly said.
The prosecutor also noted the mom was supervising her daughter, and the girl “did not sustain any injuries.”
“While the defendant’s conduct is arguably negligent and irresponsible, it does not rise to the egregious level of conduct necessary to establish criminal culpable negligence,” Kelly said.
At the time of the incident, a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson told USA TODAY, “We commend our Crew Members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes.
“We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols.”
