How did a python snake kill a baby?
A Florida toddler has been strangled by a 2.5-metre albino Burmese python that escaped from a holding tank in the girl’s home, authorities say. The pet’s owner, a boyfriend of the child’s mother, found the python on top of the two-year-old girl in the rural community of Oxford, about 80 kilometres north-west of Orlando. The python apparently broke free in the night, entered the girl’s bedroom and attacked her. The owner stabbed the snake when he found it on the child, but she was dead when emergency crews arrived, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper said. In a call to 911 the man told the operator: “Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby”. Local police said the girl had apparent bite marks on her forehead when she was found. Local TV station WFTV showed footage of the snake, still alive but bleeding from stab wounds, being carried out of the house and measured in the front yard. The Sentinel said the owner was being questioned and could face child endange
A man woke up Wednesday morning and found his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter being strangled by his 8.5-foot pet albino Burmese python, according to Sumter County sheriff’s officials. The fatal incident occurred at about 10 a.m. at a residence in the 1500 block of county Road 466 in Oxford, which is located about 60 miles northwest of Orlando. Investigators said there were several bite marks on the toddler. 911 calls from the home were released Wednesday afternoon. The caller told the dispatcher that a baby is dead. “Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby,” the caller said. The snake apparently escaped from its cage overnight and strangled Shaunnia Hare, Sumter County sheriff’s deputies said. Charles Darnell, who owns the snake, woke up and found the snake’s enclosure empty. He went in the girl’s room and found the snake wrapped around the girl’s neck. He stabbed the animal and pulled the girl away before calling 911, deputies said. Emergency worke
