Posted on 07/11/2011 5:49:16 PM PDT by BerryDingle
OXFORD --
Jury selection has been completed in the trial of a family pet python that killed a 2-year-old girl.
In 2009, an 8-foot python snake killed Shaianna Hare as she slept in her crib in Sumter County.
The girl's mother Jaren Hare and her boyfriend Charles Darnell, 34, are on trial for the child's death. The couple is facing manslaughter and child abuse charges. The trial, which is expected to last about a week, continues Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
Documents reveal the couple had not fed the 8-foot-6-inch Burmese python for a month before the accident and that the snake had escaped repeatedly.
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.
Darnell told investigators he found the snake coiled around Shaianna's head, its fangs sunk into her forehead the next morning. He stabbed the snake until he could get it off.
Darnell's lawyer says he's innocent.
"He doesn't believe he is criminally responsible," said Rhiannon Arnold. "Certainly, not of murder or manslaughter."
Hare and Darnell could face up to 35 to 40 years in prison if convicted.
those of us who have had snakes find your attitude quite annoying.
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Its called mind reading kid
I doubt if you have the consensus of all snake owners
and personally, I feel that people who keep dangerous wild animals around little children to be abusive and careless...
Again with the ignorance! If you had ever kept snakes or been a part of the community you would realize that A) People screaming SNAKES ARE BAD!! YOU NEED TO FEED THEM EVERY DAY!!! YOU KEEP WILD ANIMALS OMGZ!!! can be extremely irritating. 99% of the snake community would agree. B) Snakes PROPERLY KEPT are harmless, even if they are venemous (But you must always follow a set of rules and never deviate or you will put yourself and other in danger).
The vast majority of constrictor snakes are harmless. My roommate has a Burmese Python and the thing is as sweet as can be for a snake. Just sits on your lap, watches tv and “talks” to you. Granted, it’s huge but my roommate is a very experienced keeper with the proper setup (Herpstat, Radiant heat Panel, etc) and guess what? He feeds it a bunny every 2 weeks! If he wished he could up the prey size and only feed it every 4-6 weeks or up it further and only feed it every 6 months.
Thirdly, snakes make excellent pets around kids provided one isn’t stupid as is the case with all pets such as dogs, cats, etc.
Please do not judge the majority for what an idiotic minority may do.
An eight foot python is an easy animal to keep. The one in this incident was too thin and wasn't being kept well, but someone with a little skill and knowledge can keep an eight-footer easily.
Snakes are no more dangerous than any other animal and in many ways are less dangerous than most. An eight foot snake would never be able to eat two-year-old child. For those of us familiar with snakes, the whole story is hard to believe. These people dealt drugs and had long criminal records. The snake wasn't what put the child in danger. The child was in danger from the irresponsible adults in the child's life.
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