UPDATE 2: Jessica Weaver posted a $100,000 surety bond and was released before Saturday morning’s scheduled bond hearing.
UPDATE 1: Jessica Weaver, the mother of a 3-year-old boy who drowned at a Northeast water park, has been extradited and was booked into El Paso County Detention Center on Friday, Sept 22. She is facing a charge of injury to a child.
She is being held on a $100,000 bond. A jail magistrate will consider whether to lower her bond during a 10 a.m. hearing Saturday morning, Sept. 23.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The mother of a 3-year-old boy who drowned at a Northeast El Paso water park in May has been charged with injury to a child and will be voluntarily extradited to El Paso following a recent court order.
According to court records obtained by KTSM, Jessica Weaver is currently being held in Elkhart County, Indiana and will return to El Paso County to face trial. Court records state a review hearing is set for 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18.
As KTSM has previously reported, Weaver’s 3-year-old son, Anthony Leo Malave, was found unresponsive in a pool at Camp Cohen Water Park by officers on Saturday afternoon, May 13.
Fire Medical Services transported the child to a local hospital, where investigators later learned the boy had died the following morning on Sunday, May 14.
A lawsuit was then filed on behalf of Weaver in July against Destination El Paso and the city, alleging gross negligence and wrongful death, according to a news release issued by the Houston law firm of Webster, Vicknair, and MacLeod.
The El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks held a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 5, saying numerous witnesses came forward who were at the water park.
“She was at the Camp Cohen Water Park. Her child was swimming. It’s posted numerous places over the water park, any child younger than 6 years of age needs to be attended at the park, needs to be attended by the adult and she wasn’t doing that. There’s numerous witnesses that have come forward that have given their account that they were there at the park,” Hicks said.
Hicks explained that the charge of injury to a child by omission is a first-degree felony charge.
“If you intentionally or knowingly fail to provide care and control, care for that child, then you are acting in a first-degree felony capacity. And we believe that her actions were intentionally or at the very least knowingly, her actions knowingly put that child in that danger by omission or acts of omitting her duty to care for the child,” Hicks said.
Hicks added “the lifeguards are not babysitters.”
“They are there to try to to provide lifesaving treatment, but they’re not there to babysit. It is a parent’s responsibility to take care of your children,” Hicks said.
Hicks says Weaver is in Indiana and has waived extradition so in about a week the El Paso Police Department will coordinate going to Indiana and pick her up. He added that once she’s in El Paso she will have the opportunity to make bond. He explained that she has not yet been indicted.
“We anticipate an indictment coming forward soon. Then, of course, we will pursue this case in court to bring Miss Weaver to justice for the loss of her child,” Hicks said.
El Paso Police say the department’s Crimes Against Persons and Crimes Against Children divisions initiated a “comprehensive investigation” after the May 13 incident to determine what happened.
“Investigators were able to establish a detailed account of the events leading to the unfortunate outcome. It was determined that the child’s death resulted from neglectful and careless actions and a failure to care for the child properly. As a result of the investigation, a warrant was obtained for Jessica Weaver concerning this tragic incident,” according to the police news release.
Weaver was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Indiana on Tuesday, Aug. 29, according to the El Paso Police Department. She is awaiting extradition back to El Paso, facing charges of injury to a child by omission with a bond of $100,000.
