Pet python kills toddler in Florida

OXFORD, Fla., July 1 (UPI) -- A 2-year-old girl in Central Florida was found dead Wednesday morning, strangled by a pet Burmese python that escaped from an aquarium, police said.

Family members found the toddler, identified as Cheyenna Hare, with the 12-foot snake wrapped around her body, WESH-TV in Orlando reported.

The snake apparently belonged to Charles Darnell, described as Cheyenna's mother's boyfriend, Sumter County sheriff's deputies said. Darnell told investigators the snake was in the aquarium and in a bag when he went to sleep Tuesday.

In addition to the Burmese python, the house in Oxford, about 60 miles north of Orlando, also contained a 6-foot boa constrictor, the report said.

Burmese pythons, which can grow to be 20 feet or more in length, are one of the largest species of snakes. Larger pet snakes have killed adults.

The pythons are breeding in the Everglades, apparently introduced there by pet owners releasing snakes that have become too large for comfort.