Mother and her adult son allegedly beat up 65-year-old woman on cruise ship amid argument

An Alabama woman was arrested for allegedly assaulting a passenger on a cruise ship. Meanwhile, the woman's son was kicked off the ship after allegedly striking the same senior citizen victim.

Kelli Lyn Ryan, 49, and her 23-year-old son Dylan Ryan sailed on the MSC Seascape cruise ship on Oct. 5. A day after leaving Port Miami, the mother and son from Huntsville allegedly got involved in a physical confrontation with a 65-year-old woman in the ship’s two-deck theater.

Authorities did not specify whether the victim and alleged assailants knew each other or what ignited the altercation.

WHNT-TV reported that the ship's deputy chief of security informed the Miami-Dade Police Department that Kelli Lyn Ryan was seen "hitting the victim with an open hand" after an argument around 9:30 p.m. Oct. 6.

The Miami-Dade Police Department said the altercation was captured on surveillance video.

The ship's deputy chief security officer said Dylan Ryan was caught on video striking the victim multiple times.

The police report said the senior citizen victim suffered multiple injuries on her face and head.

Dylan Ryan was booted from the MSC Seascape at the first port of call in Falmouth, Jamaica. Authorities said he was removed from the ship for unspecified “excessive behavior.”

Kelli Lyn Ryan was allowed to remain on the week-long cruise as it made stops in the Cayman Islands, Mexico, and MSC Ocean Cay — the cruise company’s private island in the Bahamas.

However, Kelli Lyn Ryan was arrested once the ship docked in Miami. She was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and charged with battery on a person 65 or older.

Authorities did not specify whether the victim and alleged assailants knew each other or what ignited the altercation.

MSC Cruises has not commented on the incident.

The FBI said it had received 180 reports of alleged criminal activity on board cruises in 2023.

FBI Tampa Special Agent Mat Pagliarini and FBI Los Angeles Special Agent Matt Parker noted that incidents of sexual assault were the most common crime on cruise ships, followed by physical assaults.

The Department of Justice said there were 24 physical assaults with serious injury on cruise ships in 2023 — 14 physical assaults happened on Carnival cruise ships. There were reportedly 33 sexual assaults on cruise ships last year.

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