Couple found guilty of all charges in killer python case

Sad outcome from uneducated python owners

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/na...osition=recent

"Used a QUILT for a lid"!?*#!

They earned it. Education has nothing to do with it. It's called stupidity and a an unwillingness to provide a safe environment for their child.

They should have thrown in cruelty to animals while they were at it. The way they kept and fed, or rather didn't feed, that snake was a sin.

They got what they deserved. That is why you never get any animal with out fully understanding how to properly care for it.

Anyone else see what the defense attorney had to say on the result? How this is what they get for having a stupid pet and not being dog-lovers?

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Originally Posted by Redneck_Crow

They should have thrown in cruelty to animals while they were at it. The way they kept and fed, or rather didn't feed, that snake was a sin.

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They did feed it, they fed it their child! I wonder if they did that on purpose?

"He is guilty of making a stupid decision and having a stupid pet," she said. "He’s guilty of not being a dog-lover and liking snakes."

^ This made me kind of angry...

Ignorance....

"In the wake of the tragedy, the Legislature changed state rules to prohibit the possession of Burmese pythons and other large constrictor snakes."

Whoops. Sorry to anyone here who lives in Florida. :-/ That's just stupid. That said, not just anyone SHOULD own a burm or a retic. They'd be better off just controlling the ownership, not banning it. Sigh.

Just all incredibly stupid and sad.

"Hare had owned the snake since she was 14 and knew Gypsy to be docile and a source of joy".

So she had owned that snake at least 8 years, and never had it in a proper encloser!

I'm going to go against the grain here and say prison will not solve a thing. These people lost their child. And ya'll act like they did it on purpose. They were clearly irresponsible and should be held accountable. Accountable to their family, themselves, and their community. Not the state or the prison industrial complex which is simply going to institutionalization these people and not solve a thing. Because we all know prisons are not built to "rehabilitate" anyone.
Now watch which BS laws are created "against" these snakes we love so much.

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Originally Posted by chessfighter

I'm going to go against the grain here and say prison will not solve a thing. These people lost their child. And ya'll act like they did it on purpose. They were clearly irresponsible and should be held accountable. Accountable to their family, themselves, and their community. Not the state or the prison industrial complex which is simply going to institutionalization these people and not solve a thing. Because we all know prisons are not built to "rehabilitate" anyone.
Now watch which BS laws are created "against" these snakes we love so much.

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I disagree. It's going to solve the problem of them procreating.

Would you rather have them free? Perhaps in counseling? Group therapy? They're worthless drug addicts who made poor choices that one way or another cost the life of a child and should have VERY serious consequences. What would you do with them other than lock them up? Maybe next time they'll crash into a car full of someone else's nice children and kill a bunch of them. Maybe they'll find god and become missionaries. Thing is, there's no way to know and these two should NOT get the benefit of the doubt. As far as I can see that means either kill them, which if the proof of them killing the child was there I'd be all for, or locking them up.

I'm still on the fence as to whether the snake killed the child or was framed for it.

They were not a deciding factor in the permit system for Florida, that was correctly in the works long before these two came to public attention. That they were bad attention for us all is not in question.

As a mom of 3 small kids (a 4yr old a 2yr old and a baby due any second) this is just INSANE! What were they thinking?! A quilt, seriously?! :frustrate

This is sad. Who in their right mind (obviously they where not in their right mind) would use a quilt for the lid of any snake???? Even my balls can pop the lid off a tub when they really get a mind to. I find it odd that such a small burm would go after a 2 y.o. It obviously couldn't eat it and most snakes won't kill unless it is hunting and thinks it can have a meal. That part of the picture seems really off to me. I did take offence at the "stupid pet" lol of course none of my snakes are very bright, but that was uncalled for.

I am sorry to say this just put another nail in the large constrictor coffin. It make a case that "stupid people" shouldn't own animals, not just snakes. What if the kid had been killed by their dog (if they had one?)? Of course you could take it one step further and say "stupid people" shouldn't have kids.

So what is the answer? How do you keep people like these from owning and mistreating a large constrictor? What is the answer? It is the same question "dangerous breed" dog owners are facing.

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Originally Posted by chessfighter

I'm going to go against the grain here and say prison will not solve a thing. These people lost their child. And ya'll act like they did it on purpose. They were clearly irresponsible and should be held accountable. Accountable to their family, themselves, and their community. Not the state or the prison industrial complex which is simply going to institutionalization these people and not solve a thing. Because we all know prisons are not built to "rehabilitate" anyone.
Now watch which BS laws are created "against" these snakes we love so much.

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I agree with chessfighter. It is a waste to house this couple in correction facility which cost the public around $35,000 a year per inmate according to my corrections class in collage. It is completely a retribution and deterrence to other to prevent it from happening again. However how can their be a greater retribution and lesson than the loss of a child? What a horrible thing. You can't deter people from ignorance and stupidity. It would be much better for them to be sentenced to community service where they learn about proper care for a large constricting snake and tour their area educating teens (teens because they will be adults with small children soon) and others on responsible pet ownership for all "dangerous" animals including vicious dogs, who attack and kill more people including children than pythons. Only education not fear can keep this from happening again.

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Originally Posted by BallsUnlimited

They got what they deserved. That is why you never get any animal with out fully understanding how to properly care for it.

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I don't really think they did get what they deserved. They deserved to be crushed to death, rather than their poor child. And what happened to Gypsy? I don't know burms, but wouldn't an 8 year old burm be bigger than 9' if it was kept on a proper diet? How sad for all of us and I hope all those responsible owners of big snakes in the state can somehow manage to keep their pets if they owned them before the law was passed. It's just sad that so many irresponsible people release these snakes when they are too big, or allow them to escape (if an animal can escape their cage or crate, the fault is the owner's). It hurts everyone else but them. It's sad when snakes kill their owners because they are starving. IMO, at least it's the jerk who starved them getting killed, rather than a poor little kid.

Pets and kids deserve far better than lots of people do to them...

They did get what they deserved however the snake was killed because of it. The mother of the people offered to buy food for the snake, she was refused, she offered to take the snake and keep it herself again the refused. The only thing covering the snake was a small blanket. The snake had not been fed in months, not one month, but months probably at least six months.
Some brought up valid points that I did not think about and that was, was it murder? Did they do this hoping the snake would kill their child?

I have a friend that has a 10 foot Burmese in Fla but he cannot sell the babies in Fla has to sell them in Ga. Do not know if this will effect him or not.

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Originally Posted by Deepsouth

The snake had not been fed in months, not one month, but months probably at least six months.

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If I remember correctly a month before this tragedy happened it ate some roadkill squirrel.

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Originally Posted by SpencerShanks

Anyone else see what the defense attorney had to say on the result? How this is what they get for having a stupid pet and not being dog-lovers?

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Yeah i raised an eyebrow on that one too.
it just makes me mad that even though this is a case of people being stupid it still makes snakes look bad either way and now more people can say "oh see? all snakes are bad." Its the exact same thing with pitbulls.
Its just stupid people paying for negligence, at the price of animals who arent properly cared for.
aaarrrggg:rage:

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Originally Posted by Deepsouth

They did get what they deserved however the snake was killed because of it.

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I had not heard this. Last I heard, read, it was adopted by a rescue. Where did you get your info?

Also, let's not forget that these two were NOT reptile keepers doing it wrong. They were drug addicts. Because of their addictions a child is dead and all of us who do keep large snakes properly are being penalized.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

I had not heard this. Last I heard, read, it was adopted by a rescue. Where did you get your info?

Also, let's not forget that these two were NOT reptile keepers doing it wrong. They were drug addicts. Because of their addictions a child is dead and all of us who do keep large snakes properly are being penalized.

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I agree, I don't think the snake was euthenized either, but she was injured when the step father struck it with a meat cleaver.

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Originally Posted by Mft62485

I agree, I don't think the snake was euthenized either, but she was injured when the step father struck it with a meat cleaver.

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Heard it was a steak knife. Tales grow with the telling.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

Heard it was a steak knife. Tales grow with the telling.

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Yes they do, the father stabbed the snake several times with a knife.

Did we ever find out if the snake actually killed the child or was the snake used to cover up a murder?

Even though they were found guilty on all charges, they have not been sentenced yet. They could get 35 years and personally, I think that's fair. But it will surprise me if they get the full sentence. What they did was stupid. Yes, they lost a child but that little girl lost her LIFE because of her mother's ignorance. I have 5 children myself and could not imagine anything happening to them, but if something did and I knew I could have prevented it (like in this case), I wouldn't be able to live with myself. These snakes are not evil creatures if properly cared for, but they are wild animals, so with them not feeding it, the wild returned and the python what was necessary to survive. Anyone idiot can go to the pet store and buy one and any idiot can have a kid (perfect example with this case), so maybe instead of the python ban, there needs to ban stupid people from having snakes AND kids. They should have also charged them with animal cruelty because that is where this tragedy started. Not feeding your 8+ foot python and not properly securing it with a small child in the house is just asking for trouble. If the snake had not been hungry, it would not have tried eating the child. I hope that little girl rests in peace and I hope her mother (and the boyfriend) regret their stupid decisions everyday for the rest of their life, which I hope is spent in prison so they can't let the same thing happen to the new child she just gave birth to.

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Originally Posted by MoshBalls

It is a waste to house this couple in correction facility which cost the public around $35,000 a year per inmate according to my corrections class in collage.

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I'll be glad to kick in my share and your share of taxes to send these "people" to prison...

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Originally Posted by MoshBalls

I agree with chessfighter. It is a waste to house this couple in correction facility which cost the public around $35,000 a year per inmate according to my corrections class in collage. It is completely a retribution and deterrence to other to prevent it from happening again. However how can their be a greater retribution and lesson than the loss of a child? What a horrible thing. You can't deter people from ignorance and stupidity. It would be much better for them to be sentenced to community service where they learn about proper care for a large constricting snake and tour their area educating teens (teens because they will be adults with small children soon) and others on responsible pet ownership for all "dangerous" animals including vicious dogs, who attack and kill more people including children than pythons. Only education not fear can keep this from happening again.

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I agree its a waste of money to keep trash like this in the prison system and pay for it with our tax dollars, but i'm willing to bet that these people won't give 2 :cens0r: about losing their child after some time other than the fact that they got in trouble for it if theyre not taking any blame for it. Its because of stupid people like them that us good-doers have to suffer, not them. Please excuse me if this is extreme, but people like this deserve to be sterilized and punished accordingly (and not with a minimal security luxury 'discipline' resort) for their incompetence as human beings. I'm just tired of taking the beating for the actions of idiots.

I think this guy also needs a wake-up call on manners:

"Concluding her remarks, Arnold said Darnell was not guilty of manslaughter, third-degree murder or child neglect.

"He is guilty of making a stupid decision and having a stupid pet," she said. "He’s guilty of not being a dog-lover and liking snakes.""

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Originally Posted by sgath92

Did we ever find out if the snake actually killed the child or was the snake used to cover up a murder?

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If they didn't feed the snake and left it unlocked on purpose hoping for it to eat the child it would still be murder. I had not heard anything about them not feeding it for 6 months and refusing the grandmother who offered to care for the snake. I will say that it seems more like they should be jailed and had intent in that case.

There have been cases where Pit Bulls were used as the weapon in a murder case of a girlfriend because they thought it would look like an accident. Honestly that thought never occurred to me before. How horrible. :tears: