http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529835,00.html
Charges will be brought against the owner of a pet python that strangled a 2-year-old Florida girl in her crib, killing her, police told FOXNews.com.
There was no immediate word on what charges will be filed, since authorities still are working on the specifics, a Sumter County Sheriffs source said.
Shaiunna Hare died early Wednesday morning after being attacked by the snake, which belonged to her mother's boyfriend and escaped from its aquarium, deputies said.
The little girl was killed by the 8-foot, 5-inch Burmese python as she slept after it got out of its tank in another room of the house, according to Sumter County Sheriff's Lt. Bobby Caruthers. The aquarium didn't have a lock as required by law, he told FOX News Thursday.
Jaren Ashley Hare, 21, and Shaiunna shared the central Florida home with Hare's boyfriend, 32-year-old Charles Jason Darnell, and his children.
Caruthers told FOX that Darnell may face charges for not having a permit for the python. Deputies say Darnell did not have the $100 permit required to own a python in Florida, which is a second-degree misdemeanor.
He also could be charged with child endangerment, child neglect or even manslaughter or homicide, according to Caruthers.
Darnell told investigators that he put the snake in a bag inside its aquarium Tuesday night. But when he woke up Wednesday morning, he said, the snake was gone. He found it wrapped around the girl in her crib.
Darnell stabbed the snake repeatedly to free the little girl, but the toddler already had been strangled. The snake also bit her on the head, the station reported.
He called 911 after he pried the python away from the child.
"The baby's dead!" a sobbing caller from the house screamed to a 911 dispatcher in tapes released by police. "Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby!"