The father of Levion Parker, the 20-year-old Florida outdoorsman who drunkenly jumped to his death in front of his family on a Royal Caribbean cruise last week, now wonders how his son could have gotten drunk at this point while he was a minor.
In an interview with his hometown newspaper, The daily sunFrancel Parker insisted his son was not suicidal and that they were not arguing before his fatal plunge – a statement that contradicts what others on board told the New York Post they were witnesses.
Instead, Francel told the newspaper that his son’s spontaneous jump was due to drunken ignorance – something he said should have been avoidable.
“We don’t drink,” he told the Sun. “I would like to know how my son got so much alcohol.”
Although they were in international waters at the time of the fatal plunge, approximately halfway between Grand Inagua Island and Cuba, cruises departing from and returning from U.S. ports are not permitted to serve as alcohol to anyone under 21. Royal Caribbean released a statement on the incident: but did not respond to witness statements that Levion was drunk.
Parker added that he remains hopeful that his son, an outdoorsman who won a saltwater fishing tournament last month, is still alive somewhere in the Caribbean, even though as of Thursday it has been a full week since his disappearance in the ocean and two days from the American coast. The guard called off its search.
“As soon as he left the shore, I prayed for him,” he said, adding that his son was an experienced diver. “I was sure that the prayers I said for my son were being heard. I rely on the word of God. I believe he is alive.
The tragedy took place around 4 a.m. on April 4, on the 11th deck of the gigantic liner Liberty of the Seas. Witnesses told the Job Last week, Levion was hanging out in a hot tub with his brother when he was approached by his father, who seemed angry because he had been drinking.
Authorities identify son who jumped from cruise ship in front of family
After what he perceived to be an argument, witness Bryan Sims told the Job he heard Levion say to his father, “I’ll take care of this right away.” Moments later, he jumped into the dark ocean below – an incident Sims described as an “impulsive jump.”
Sims added that the ship was moving “pretty fast” and that Francel shouted to staff to alert the captain, which brought the ship to a complete stop within 20 minutes. The ship launched lifeboats, but to no avail: Levion was nowhere to be found.
Francel told Sun he threw six lifebuoys off the ship in the hope that one would reach his son, who he said had accompanied him on board with his younger brother to take a break from his work on a commercial fishing boat.
Social media posts showed Levion graduated from North Port High School in southwest Florida, between Sarasota and Fort Myers, in 2022. He played football there and regularly posted about fishing and the hunt.
In its only statement on the incident, Royal Caribbean said last week that it was “providing support and assistance” to Levion’s family.
“The ship’s crew immediately initiated a search and rescue operation alongside the US Coast Guard,” it said, adding: “For the privacy of the guests and their families, we did not no additional details to share.”
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