The father of Levion Parker, the 20-year-old Florida outdoorsman who tragically jumped to his death in front of his family on a Royal Caribbean cruise last week, is now raising concerns about how his son was able to consume alcohol despite being underage.
In an interview with his hometown newspaper, The Daily Sun, Francel Parker stated that his son was not suicidal and that they had not argued prior to his deadly plunge—a comment that contradicts what others onboard told the New York Post.
Instead, Francel told the newspaper that his son’s spontaneous jump was the result of intoxicated stupidity, which he claimed might have been avoided.
“We don’t drink,” he told The Sun. “I want to understand how my son received such a large amount of alcohol.”
Despite being over international waters at the time of the deadly plummet, nearly halfway between Grand Inagua Island and Cuba, cruises departing and returning from U.S. ports are not permitted to serve alcohol to anyone under 21. Royal Caribbean has issued a statement regarding the event but has not addressed witness statements that Levion was intoxicated.
Parker said that he remains hopeful that his son, an outdoorsman who won a saltwater fishing event only last month, is still alive somewhere in the Caribbean, despite the fact that it has been a full week since he vanished into the ocean and two days since the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search.
“As soon as he went off the side, I prayed over him,” he recalled, noting that his son was an accomplished diver. “I was certain that God heard my prayers for my son.” I rely on the word of God. “I believe he is alive.”
The disaster occurred approximately at 4 a.m. on April 4 on the 11th deck of the enormous cruise ship Liberty of the Seas. Witnesses told the Post last week that Levion was enjoying a hot tub with his brother when his father, looking unhappy due to his drinking, approached him.
After what he took to be an altercation, witness Bryan Sims told the Post that he heard Levion tell his father, “I’ll fix this right now.” He jumped into the dark ocean below moments later, which Sims described as an “impulsive leap.”
Sims claimed that the ship was moving “pretty fast” and that Francel yelled for the crew to warn the captain, causing the ship to come to a complete halt within 20 minutes. The ship dispatched rescue boats, yet they were unable to locate Levion.
Francel told the Sun that he threw six life rings out of the ship in the hopes that one would reach his son, who had come on board with him and his younger brother to take a holiday from his work on a commercial fishing boat.
Social media posts revealed Levion graduated from North Port High School, located in southwest Florida between Sarasota and Fort Myers, in 2022. He played football there and routinely posted about fishing and hunting.
In its first remark on the tragedy, Royal Caribbean claimed last week that it was “providing support and assistance” to Levion’s family.
“The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the U.S. Coast Guard,” the statement added. “For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”
