Killer python owner: 'It was a terrible, awful accident'

Killer python owner: 'It was a terrible, awful accident'
In his first interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Charles Darnell said he has been stricken by grief in the month since the family's pet Burmese python suffocated his girlfriend's 2-year-daughter in her crib in a rural community about 60 miles northwest of Orlando.

Anthony Colarossi

Sentinel Staff Writer

6:41 PM EDT, July 31, 2009


Almost a month ago, a pet Burmese python escaped from its enclosure in a rural Sumter County home and suffocated 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare as she slept in her crib.

The attack made international headlines and became a convenient tragedy for politicians and bureaucrats to use as they called for organized hunts of wild Burmese.

But for Charles Darnell and his girlfriend Jaren A. Hare, the loss was indescribable.

The last month left them mourning a child they loved, questioning themselves for becoming so trusting of the snake and worrying if criminal charges will come.

Darnell, 32, spoke Friday in his first interview with the Orlando Sentinel.

He said the child's death has altered his life forever and made him a "monster" in the eyes of many around the world and in his tiny town Oxford, 60 miles northwest of Orlando.
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It was a terrible awful accident