The 2-year-old girl killed by an albino Burmese python Wednesday in Sumter County died of asphyxia, according to preliminary results released moments ago from an autopsy being conducted. The toddler, Shaiunna Hare, also had bite marks from the snake on her forehead and arms.
The autopsy is being conducted by the District 5 Medical Examiner’s Office, which serves Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter counties.
Law enforcement and state wildlife officials suspect Shaiunna Hare was strangled by the more than 8-foot-long python early Wednesday morning in the rural community just west of The Villages.
Sanders said this morning that it’s likely the autopsy results will be pending toxicology tests, which may take four to six weeks.
Dr. Wendy Lavezzi, the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for District 5 in Leesburg, is performing the autopsy, Sanders said.
Meanwhile, state Department of Children and Families officials confirmed today that they have had one prior encounter with the household in which the child was living. The investigation was started on May 1 and closed June 12 and it involved substance abuse concerns, according to DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner.
She could not provide more details regarding that investigation, but she did note that DCF did not notice a perceived threat posed by any animals in the house at that time.
Officials with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it’s likely this may be the state’s first case of a non-venomous constrictor snake causing a death.
Late Wednesday, Sumter County Sheriff and state wildlife officials captured the python inside the small home on County Road 466 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 Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said the python was a family pet that apparently broke free from inside a glass aquarium in the home’s living room.
The snake then made its way into the girl’s bedroom and apparently strangled her in the middle of the night, according to authorities.
The home is off County Road 466, tucked in the middle of pastureland.
Darnell, 32, found the snake – about 8.5 feet long – on top of the 2-year-old Wednesday morning after he noticed the snake was missing from the aquarium.
He then started stabbing the reptile. Family members called 911.
The child was dead when emergency crews arrived at 10 a.m.
She had a bite mark on her head, authorities said.
“It’s a tragedy,” Caruthers said. “The family [members], as you might well expert, are very upset about this. They’re really grieving.”
Authorities said Darnell is the boyfriend of the girl’s mother, Jaren A. Hare, 19. However, Darnell is not the girl’s father.
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