A 2-Year-Old Girl Was Strangled by an Albino Burmese Python

A 2-year-old girl was strangled by an albino Burmese python more than 8-feet long early Wednesday in Oxford, in rural Florida, authorities said.

Officials with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC, said it's likely it may be the state's first case of a nonvenomous constrictor snake causing a death.

Sumter County Sheriff and state wildlife officials captured the python inside the home Wednesday afternoon and placed it inside a bag. It's not known whether the snake will be euthanized. The python had a bloody gouge about a foot from the tip of its nose, where it was stabbed by its owner, Charles Darnell.

Lt. Bobby Caruthers, of the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, said the python was a family pet that apparently escaped from a glass terrarium in the living room in the home in Oxford, about 50 miles northwest of Orlando. The snake then made its way into the girl's bedroom and attacked her, authorities said. The girl was identified as Shaiunna Hare.

Darnell, 32, found the snake — about 8.5 feet long — on top of the 2-year-old after he noticed the snake was missing from the aquarium. He then started stabbing the reptile. Family members called 911 at 9:43 a.m. The child was dead when emergency crews arrived at 10 a.m. She had a bite mark on her head, authorities said.

Authorities said Darnell is the boyfriend of the girl's mother, Jaren Hare, 23. However, Darnell is not the girl's father.

Darnell was being questioned by sheriff's investigators and may face child-endangerment charges. State wildlife officials said Darnell likely faces a second-class misdemeanor charge because he did not have a permit for the python. The misdemeanor charge could be punishable by up to a $500 fine and 60 days in jail.

Caruthers said the Burmese python slithered away after being stabbed by Darnell and had been missing for several hours.

Darnell also had a 6-foot boa constrictor in the home, but that was in a secure container, authorities said.

Two other young children also live in the home, authorities said.

Darnell told investigators he put the python inside a bag Tuesday night and placed the bag inside the aquarium.

"Usually you tie off the bag and you put something on top of the enclosure," said Joy Hill of FWC.

George Van Horn, owner of Reptile World Serpentarium in St. Cloud, Fla., called it "extremely rare" for a python to attack a child.

"But you can never predict what a wild animal will do," he said. Large snakes, such as pythons, are typically docile, therefore "people can look at them as being like any other animal, and as being very affectionate," he said. "But they're always operating on instinct."