Casey Anthony Blames Her Father for Caylee’s Death in First On-Camera Interview

Casey Anthony is reiterating a familiar story in her new on-camera interview about her daughter Caylee’s death. Anthony is speaking out publicly for the first time in years on Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies, which premieres later this month on Peacock. According to a report by PEOPLE, Anthony blames her father, George Anthony for her daughter’s death in the new interview.

Caylee Anthony disappeared in the summer of 2008 at the age of 2, and her remains were found in the woods near her home later that year. Her death caused a national media sensation, with many Americans speculating that her 22-year-old mother Casey had murdered her in order to escape the burden of motherhood. Casey was acquitted of the murder in 2011, and part of her defense strategy was implying that her father had abused her and Caylee and that she had been implicated in his cover-up of the murder. Casey has largely avoided the public eye since then, but now she will reportedly share new details on this familiar story.

In Where The Truth Lies, Casey reportedly claims that her father staged Caylee’s death, intending to make it look like she had drowned in the swimming pool by accident when no one was looking. She speculates that he may have done so to cover up his sexual abuse of the 2-year-old. She shares a blow-by-blow account of the day of Caylee’s disappearance – June 16, 2008.

“I wasn’t feeling that great, and I wanted to lay down,” Casey says, according to PEOPLE. “I had her lay in bed with me. I was awoken by [my father] shaking me and asking me where Caylee was. That didn’t make sense. She would never even leave my room without telling me. I immediately started looking around the house. I go outside and I’m looking to see where she could be.”

Casey then says that she found her father outside holding the remains of her daughter. She recalls: “He was standing there with her. She was soaking wet. He handed her to me. Said it was my fault. That I caused it. But he didn’t rush to call 911 and he wasn’t trying to resuscitate her. I collapsed with her in my arms. She was heavy, and she was cold. He takes her from me and he immediately softens his tone and says ‘It’s going to be ok.’ I wanted to believe him. He took her from me and he went away.”

Casey claims that she did not tell anyone about the incident because she believed her daughter was still alive in the month that followed. She said: “During the 31 days, I genuinely believed that Caylee was still alive. My father kept telling me she was ok. I had to keep following his instructions. He told me what to do. I tried to act as normal as I could.” She also said that she did not believe Caylee could have drowned in the pool by accident and that her father must have staged it.

There was no ladder… no way for her to shimmy up. There’s no way to explain that, unless [George] put her in the pool to cover up what he did,” she said. She then describes the abuse she says she suffered at her father’s hands growing up, and speculates that Caylee may have been similarly abused. She also claims that she was abused by her brother, Lee.

Both George and Lee Anthony have vehemently denied Casey’s allegations of abuse, and they did not comment on reports about this preview of the new documentary. Casey is now 36 years old, and it’s unclear why she has decided to speak out about her story after all these years. Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies premieres on Tuesday, Nov. 29 on Peacock.