WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: Shaiunna Hare was killed by her mother’s 8-foot Burmese Python
In a horrifying end to her short life, a two-year-old girl from Florida in the US was strangled in her cot by her mother’s severely underfed 8-foot Burmese Python.
“Gypsy” the snake tragically took the life of Shaiunna Hare in 2009 when her mother, Jaren Hare, 32, from Sumter County, secured the snake’s cage with just a quilt and failed to provide it with sufficient food. As little Shaiunna slept, the six-inch wide snake slithered into her bed, coiled itself around her neck and attempted to consume her.
“She got out of the cage and got into the baby’s crib and strangled her to death. I’m going to kill the b****,” Darnell said in a frantic 911 call before fatally stabbing the snake his girlfriend had owned for years.
Hare was later found guilty of aggravated manslaughter and child neglect following the death of her daughter, and was released in 2021 after serving 12 years behind bars.
Despite this, the couple seemed to maintain their relationship while incarcerated and claimed they planned to wed upon their release, even though they will remain on parole until 2026, reports the Mirror US.
Hare’s live-in boyfriend, Charles “Jason” Darnell, also received a 12-year prison sentence after being convicted of the same criminal charges. He was released in January of 2021, nine months prior to Jaren, according to state records.
When contacted by News 6 at a phone number associated with Darnell, Hare declined to comment, Click Orlando reported.
During their trial, lawyers representing Hare and Darnell argued that the couple never anticipated their previously docile pet would cause harm to anyone.
Shaiunna’s father, Joseph Gilkerson, lodged a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Children and Families for wrongful death, alleging that the agency failed to safeguard the toddler after a DCF investigator spotted the python in the home. A confidential settlement was later reached between Joseph and the department.
During sentencing, the jury dismissed the defence’s claim that this was merely a tragic accident. The jury foreperson, who wished to remain anonymous, provided insight into how the final verdict was determined.
“Even under the most remote circumstances, it was possible that the child could be injured. And it was their duty to make sure that there was no possibility that a 2-year-old would be bitten or in any way harmed… We feel extremely upset about having to make this decision, but we believe it was the correct one,” the foreperson told ABC Affiliate WFTV.
Following the reading of the verdict, Darnell attempted to console his distraught girlfriend. During the trial, Assistant State Attorney Pete Magrino presented the jury with two photos of Shaianna, one where she was a smiling, happy child and another showing her lifeless body with bite marks on her face.
He pointed at the couple and argued to the jury that “the snake is not at fault in this case. It’s a wild animal. The responsibility for the death of that child is those defendants right there.”