Girl, 2, bitten and strangled to death by family's pet python

OXFORD -- A 2-year-old girl who was bitten and strangled by her family's pet python was found dead this morning, according to Central Florida media reports.

The girl's father, Charles Jason Darnell, told deputies he bagged and caged the 12-foot Burmese python Tuesday night in their home in Oxford, west of the retirement community The Villages, according to ABC Action News. He found the snake on top of the girl in her bed Wednesday morning about 9:30 a.m., according to WCJB TV-20.

Darnell saw a bite mark on the girl's forehead and began to stab the snake, which deputies discovered under a dresser, WFTV reports. A 6-foot boa constrictor was also in the house at the time of the attack.

"A 12-foot snake is kind of like having a truck sitting on your chest," reported ClickOrlando, quoting Critter Control employee Matt Harrison. "They have enough power not only to asphyxiate you, but to break bones as well."

Comments

[Skye]

Why would own a python with a child in the home?!

[terminator]

this POS Darnell should be put in a cage of cobras and krates and watch the idiot die a slow painful death.
rot in hell you dumb*uck!

[meetjohndoe]

A Python and a Boa Constrictor. The parents aren't hung yet? If she was my grandchild, justice would already be done.

[gator07]

There is something else to this story. I have a two year old and he wakes up no later than 7am each morning and she was found at 9:30am? Another innocent child taken away buy the stupidty of a parent.

[gary]

and people spend time worrying about single parents or same sex couples raising kids. Let's focus more time and energy on morons with snakes.

[meetjohndoe]

The Everglades are infested with Pythons, and articles are showing up everyday, and TV announcements, about the dangers of these Pythons. You would have to be deaf , dumb, and blind, to have one in your own house. A two year old daughter, so sad, and pray for the child. Grandparents must be shattered.

[JAMES B. JOHNSON]

No sweat! Dad remembers how to make kids; kids and stuff can be replaced.

[csattsam]

What the heck were they thinking... Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. Now this will be something they will have to live with the rest of their lives and they have lost a precious little one. I pray for the family.

[common sense]

charge the father with negligent homicide!

[Dave]

"Here's yer sign."

[Aida]

I HOPE THEY FRY BOTH PARENTS FOR HAVING THESE BEASTS IN THEIR HOME...How in the hell would you not realize that these monsters would view a child as a potential meal, they are predators...IDIOTS!

[Tina]

Pretty Stupid to have HUGE snakes in the home with any child, especially two! Poor child suffered for stupid adults!

[Jim]

I hope they charge these IDIOTS with Negligent Homicide!

AND

I hope if there are other children in the house, they have been REMOVED, PERMANENTLY!

[Bcherps]

No doubt this will get sensationalized and turned into a horrific attack by a savage animal, and it will be used as fodder by the anti-exotic pet people.

It is simply a case of irresponsible people, and there ability to make children and bad decisions. This is a prime example of the general neglect that is called parenting today.

It is tragic, however, it is a prime example of natural selection. Bad parenting skills in nature lead to unsuccessful raising of offspring and thus thier genes are not carried on.

People like this are the ones that are taking everyone's civil liberties away. There irresponsibility ending in tragic accidents lead to legislation that then bans an activity and everyone who is responsible is punished.

Why was this snake taken out of the cage and bagged, but yet not secured in a locking tote, why was a secondary cage not used, or at least placed in the bathroom and the door shut?

I have hundreds of reptiles, many venomous, and it doesnt take a whole heck of a lot of effort or common sense to handle these animals safely and responsibly. Plus FFWCC already has in place regulations that state that venomous and reptiles of concern( which burmese pythons fall under) must be housed in secure caging and in a room that is locked.

Why was a 2 year old unattended?

This guy deserves everything that is comming to him, and more for his individual stupidity.

-bcherps

[Amy]

Sad. How stupid can you be? That's like leaving a pit bull or other agreesive dog with your children so it can rip their face off. It's just plain neglect and I agree the parents should be charged with this crime.
Parents grow up and realize that some animals are not to be trusted alone with your children. OR.... maybe the parents will use the old excuse.. "but it's just a family pet and never would hurt anyone" bullshi........

[Al]

When, When, When are our elected officials going to put a stop to these dangerous animals that are damageing our ecosystem. Anyone that thinks these animals are ok to possess needs a mental evaluation starting with you Bcherps. If you haven't noticed, you're not even a minority on this issue. No one with any sense agrees with your position no matter how logical you try to make your pathetic argument sound. You are whats known as a contrarian. The only reason you have any desire to possess these dangerous animals is to thumb your nose at the decent members of our society. I'm sure your face is full of holes and spikes. And I'm sure you are real proud of the tattoos all over your body. But the only one impressed is you and the handfull of freaks you hang out with because believe me, no one gives a damn about what you think especially when it comes to "exotic" excuse me dangerous animals!!!

[Jenea]

My heart goes out to the family over such a senseless tragedy. Might I remind everyone that dog attacks are the #2 reason children go to the emergency. I don't see everyone in an outrage over those "horrible" beast and negligent parents. It is just as irresponsible to have dogs ina house with small children. Case in point, in 2006, a newborn was mauled by the families Pomoranian. You take a risk anytime you bring an animal into your house. What I see are a lot of people speaking in ignorance and fear of an animal they know nothing about, and with a bias because it is not cute and fuzzy. The media does not help with their misinformation about these animals either. This "invasion" (with sarcasim here) of burmese is NOT the result of 1000's of pet owners releasing their animals (yes it would take 1000's of owners to make the numbers they are reporting fit), but rather the result of natural desasters such as Hurricane Andrew. We all saw how many animals were released and abandoned after Hurricane Katrina. How many more in south Florida with all of the pet stores, zoos, and homes that were destroyed. Lets use a little common sense.

[Bcherps]

Response to Al,

Actually I am a college educated Biological Scientist for one of the nations top universities.

I do agree with you I am in the minority, and I do agree some of these animals can be very dangerous in the wrong situations. However, I have been attacked twice by dogs, fractured several bones working with horses, and contracted salmonella from poutlry once. Should we outlaw all these animals too?

thanks
ben

[Melbourne Translator]

Parents should be responsible for not allowing dangerous animals around their kids. Period. These parents are clearly irresponsible.

[Adam]

This is an incredibly sad story but you have to remember, along the lines of what Jenea said, any pet can be dangerous. The vast majority of people who keep reptiles (especially large reptiles) know and understand that their are precautions which need to be taken to keep them safely for both the animals and their keepers.

The father was obviously irresponsible in his keeping of this animal and should be held accountable.

Keeping reptiles is a fun and extremely rewarding hobby for those of us who keep them and fear reactions such as some of these posted here are not based on any hard evidence.

[Shane]

BCHerpies

Your community proliferates the adoption of these reptiles among a "Black Market" We have the FFWCC because of people like you that feel the need to ahve these types of animals. We do not need government intervention we need people to be held accountable for bad choices.

Obviously the parents should be locked up with the Chip that ripped that lady's face off.

But at the same time wehn a parent makes a choice that effects a child that parent should be held responsible.

Best Regards

Shane
Cleawater

[Sublime Boa Constrictor]

Shame Cleavage, can you even read? You just disagreed with him, by agreeing with him.

This is a tragedy caused by an "individuals" stupidity. Not a group of people, but one irresponsible owner, and one neglectful mother. A group of people should not have to pay a price for what one person neglected to do.

And I happen to agree. This guy deserves what they give him, and probably some more for his stupid action. People like this should be removed from the gene pool, and not allowed to reproduce.

[kyra]

ben aka bcherps
i think you are 1 of the only one making sence here. thank u, i am also a fellow snake lover. punish the deed, not the breed. i blame the parents in this one.

[Ruth]

If he had went in much later, the kid would not have been there? The parents should be charged with negligent homicide.

[THWyman]

To all the anti-reptile people here,

I love how you all have such strong view on a subject that you know absolutely nothing about. I especially loved the comments by Al and Shane. Stereotype profiling much?

For the record I keep a number of reptiles (a few of the smaller python species that do not exceed 6', some native snake species, a few geckos and some frogs. All "exotics" and not a one of them dangerous in any capacity.) I have no piercings. I have no tattoos. I do not live in a trailer. I am not some redneck, slack-jawed, white trash. In point of fact, I hold a PhD in microbiology and molecular genetics so I would venture a guess that I am more highly educated than the majority of you.

And, being as educated as I am, I know better than to just take what is spoon fed to me by the media as 100% fact. I actually go out and look for real data. Real data like the reports that show that the Burmese pythons in the Everglades are very closely related, genetically, indicating a single founding population (likely released during the destruction cause by Andrew) and not the result of every Tom, Dave and Harry reptile owner dumping their pets as your beloved Senator Nelson would like to have you believe. Or real data like the _peer reviewed_ article that shows the potential range of the Burmese python in the US is pretty much restricted to the Everglades as opposed to the non-reviewed article, that was bought and paid for by animal rights activist groups, that Senator Nelson loves to quote saying Burmese pythons have a potential range of nearly 2/3 of the country. Or how about this inconvenient bit of data: Since 1980 there have been less than 20 deaths in the US caused by pet pythons. How many deaths are cause by dogs every month?? And yet I do not see you all rallying to have every dog, including your own, put down as being dangerous, vicious killers.

Open your eyes. You cannot just believe everything the media throws at you (or maybe you can and you believe in Bigfoot and UFOs and that Elvis is still alive...) Learn to think for yourself or you will one day find yourself wondering how it is that you are living in the world depicted by Orwell.

This event is a tragedy. You will not get an argument from me on that. What happened never should have happened. But you need to punish the responsible parties and not just make blanket statements about whole groups. That is narrow minded. As narrow minded as saying that all dogs ought to be banned because a few are dangerous. As narrow minded as saying that all men ought to be locked up because some men are rapists.