Pet python strangles toddler
A 12-foot python escaped from its aquarium and killed a 2-year-old girl on Wednesday morning in her central Florida home. Shaunia Hare died in her bedroom, suffering strangulation as well as bite marks on her head, police told the Associated Press.
The boyfriend of Shaunia’s mother owned the Burmese python, but did not have a legal permit for the animal, police said. Charles Jason Darnell, 32, discovered the snake was missing, and then found the snake on the Shaunia.
The Humane Society told the AP that Shaunia is at least the 12th person to be killed in the U.S. by pet pythons since 1980. Five of those deaths were children. Last year, the parents of a 3-year-old boy in Las Vegas were charged with felony child neglect after their child was attacked by their pet python. The boy survived after the mother stabbed the snake with a kitchen knife.
Photo by Tambako the Jaguar
