underfed pet 8ft python strangles toddler in crib. Parents found guilty

[Liberal_in_LA]

A central Florida couple has been convicted in the death of a toddler strangled in her crib by a pet python.

A Sumter County jury found 21-year-old mother Jaren Hare and her live-in boyfriend, 34-year-old Charles "Jason" Darnell, guilty Thursday of manslaughter, third-degree murder and child neglect. They each face 35 years in prison. Both previously rejected plea agreements for 10 years in prison.

Authorities say an 8-foot-6-inch albino Burmese python wrapped itself around 2-year-old Shianna Hare's head on July 1, 2009. Testimony revealed the snake had not been fed for a month before the attack.

Defense attorneys argued that the death was an accident, and there was no way to know that the tame pet would kill a child.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/07/14/national/a121036D73.DTL#ixzz1S6oDa5n0

Snake was found coiled around child's head with its fangs sunk into her forehead

Eugene Bessette testified that Gypsy, the 5-year-old Burmese python that strangled Hare, was very underfed and malnourished. A 5-year-old python should weigh 140 pounds, but Bessette said Gypsy weighed 13.5 pounds.

Gypsy's aquarium was not fit for a snake, Bessette said.

"It's totally and impossibly incapable of housing a python," he said. "It has no way to secure the animal. It's impossible. You can put fish in there if it doesn't leak."

Darnell told detectives the snake was in its tank when he went to bed that night. An hour later, he found the python in the hallway, stuffed it in a mesh bag and put it in its tank.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43758751/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

[get the red out]

1. "tame pet"

Exotic pets are hardly domesticated.

[damntexdem]

2. Hmm, a dangerous snake, not fed for a month, a young child:

what could possibly go wrong?

Prison for a long time is what they deserve.

[kayakjohnny]

3. Hmmmm... 'no way to know'..... This reminds me of something...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he6O9nZ3CZs

[Myrina]

4. ... and we're sure it didn't happen on purpose?

:shrug: Just askin' ....

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. 13.5# but should be 140#?

That isn't 'underfed' - that is extremely malnourished?

I'm glad they were found guilty. They should have thrown in an animal abuse charge to the murder and child neglect charges.

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. My thought also. Irresponsible pet owners. Irresponsible parents

[joeybee12]

6. I'm very glad they did not accept the plea deal...assholes like that

need to be in prison a long, long time.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Nope I cannot see a way this could ever happen, nope, no way...

:sarcasm:

What the hell were they thinking?

[LeftishBrit]

10. What the hell were they thinking? They obviously weren't!!!

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LeftishBrit]

9. Parents with a toddler should not be keeping a pet python in their home anyway...

Poor little girl!!!

[OneGrassRoot]

11. These are the types of human beings I have zero compassion for...

zilch, nada.

They neglected (abused) the snake and put that baby in harm's way. Their neglect and ignorance killed that baby.

Ugh.

:(

[AtomicKitten]

12. Their crime is a two-fer: Cruelty to their child AND their pet snake.

[LiberalAndProud]

13. I'm glad they'll do jail time.

For the sake of the child and the snake.

But I think they have grounds for appeal on the basis of an incompetent defense. Who in their right mind believes there is such a thing as a "tame python?"

At least there is one less Burmese python being kept as a pet in the State of Florida. The law banning them was well past due.