A Florida mother and her boyfriend were found guilty of third-degree murder on Thursday in the death of the woman's 2-year-old daughter, who was strangled by their pet python in her crib.
A jury convicted Jaren Hare, 21, and boyfriend Charles Darnell, 34, of manslaughter, third-degree murder and child neglect for the July 2009 death of Hare's daughter, Shaianna, in Bushnell, in central Florida.
Darnell found the couple's 8-1/2-foot-long albino Burmese python named Gypsy wrapped around Shaianna's head and body after it escaped from an unsecured aquarium, according to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.
The medical examiner found bite marks on the child's head and arms.
Darnell told authorities he thought he had secured the snake by placing it in a laundry bag, which had a small hole in it, and then covering the aquarium with a quilt held on by safety pins.
The couple face prison time at their sentencing next month, according to the prosecutors' office.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
I guess for those who think that they know what they are doing but really do not, this is a fitting end. Did they have the proper permits for a burm in florida? Why did they think a snake of that size was ever secure in a bag with a hole in it to begin with.
Another hit to the reptile hobby and all of us who love doing it.
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Shane Flaskamp
