Pet python strangles toddler in craddle

OXFORD, Florida: A pet Burmese python measuring more than 2.5 meters long broke out of a terrarium and strangled a 2-year-old girl in her bedroom Wednesday at a central Florida home, authorities said.

Shaiunna Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived at about 10 am said police Lt. Bobby Caruthers.

Charles Jason Darnell, the snake's owner and the boyfriend of Shaiunna's mother, discovered the snake missing from its terrarium and went to the girl's room, where he found it on the girl and bite marks on her head, Caruthers said. Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the child away.