[BURNING MAN]

Escaped pet python strangles child to death

A 2.5-metre pet Burmese python has broken out of a home terrarium and strangled a two-year-old girl in her bedroom in central Florida, US authorities say.

Shaunnia Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived about 10am on Wednesday, police Lieutenant Bobby Caruthers said.

Charles Jason Darnell, the snake's owner and the boyfriend of Shaunnia's mother, discovered the snake missing from its terrarium and went to the girl's room, where he found it on the girl and bite marks on her head, Caruthers said.

Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the child away.

"The baby's dead!" a sobbing caller from the house screamed to an emergency all dispatcher in a recording. "Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby."

Authorities did not identify the caller and removed the person's name from the recording.

"She got out of the cage last night and got into the baby's crib and strangled her to death," the caller said.

Authorities removed the snake from the home on Wednesday afternoon. Once outside the small home, bordered by cow pastures, the live snake was placed in a bag then inside a dog crate.

Darnell did not have a permit for the snake, which would be a second-degree misdemeanour, said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

He has not been charged, but Caruthers said investigators were looking into whether there was child neglect or if any other laws were broken.

Hill said the snake will be placed with someone who has a permit, pending an investigation into the girl's death.

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