Couple found guilty in death of 2-year-old
The following information is from the ABC Action news website in Tampa Bay, FL.
A Sumter County jury has found Jaren Hare and Charles Darnell guilty of third-degree murder, manslaughter, and child abuse in the death of 2-year-old Shaianna Hare. The little girl was strangled by the couple's pet python on July 1, 2009.
In the end, the jury did not buy the defense that this was just a terrible accident. They held the Sumter County couple guilty on all charges. It took the six-person jury less than two hours to reach a decision, and now the two will likely face serious prison time.
The foreperson from this jury did not want to be identified, but she offered insight how they reached the verdict. "Even under the most remote circumstances, it was possible that the child could be injured. And it was their duty to make sure there was no possibility that a 2-year-old would be bitten or anyway harmed."
The medical examiner testified the toddler was asphyxiated by burmese python two years ago. The prosecution told the jury the hungry snake named Gypsy escaped from his enclosure, outfitted with only a quilt as a lid.
While pointing at the couple, Pete Magrino, the Assistant State Attorney, said "The snake is not at fault in this case. It's a wild animal. The responsibility for the death of that child is those defendants right there." Magrino also showed the jury two pictures. One of Shaianna as a happy child. The other was of her lifeless body with bite marks on her face. On July 1, 2009, investigators say the python escaped from it's tank and strangled the little girl to death. Authorities found the tank secured only by a quilt fastened with baby pins.
The defense argued all week that the snake was a family pet that had always been docile. Darnell's attorney said he had no idea the python would attack. "He is not guilty of manslaughter. He is not guilty of murder. He's not guilty of neglecting that child. He is guilty making a stupid decision and having a stupid pet," said defense attorney Rhiannon Arnold.
Hare's attorney followed by saying the python had been a family pet for five years. "If you have children around the house and it's a venomous snake and you don't put a secure lid on a venomous snake and it gets out and bites one of the kids, you should be punished. But Gypsy was a gentle snake," said defense attorney Ismael Solis.
The foreperson says they carefully went over Florida law on each count. And determined Hare and Darnell were guilty of 3rd degree murder, manslaughter and child neglect. "We feel extremely upset about having to make this decision, but we believe it was the correct one."
The defendants in this case were offered a plea deal for 10 years in prison, but turned it down.
Sentencing is set for August 24, and Darnell could face more time than Hale because he has 6 prior felony convictions.
Outside the courtroom, Shaianna's biological father, Joe Gilkerson said the verdict is a relief to him. "I'm glad to see justice served."
The following info was taken from here.
Shaianna's biological father, Joseph Gilkerson, 30, of Leesburg, a spectator at the four-day trial, said justice was served by the verdict. He was bothered by what he viewed as Hare's lack of emotion during the trial.
"You got some times (in court) where she's got emotions and then you got some times where she looked like she could care less," he said. "I mean, that was our daughter. How can you have an emotionless face?"
The couple failed in their duty to protect the toddler from the exotic constrictor, said the panel's foreperson, a resident of The Villages who spoke with reporters on the conditions that her face would not be photographed and she would not be identified by name. She said the jury believed that Hare and Darnell were convinced that the pet python was tame and its attack on the 22-pound toddler was an accident. "But we also felt that, as the (child's) adult parents and caregivers, their responsibility was to preclude any chance that there could be an incident of any kind, because a 2-year-old could not protect herself," she said.
The 5-year-old snake weighed 13.5 pounds when measured about a month after the attack. A healthy albino Burmese python of that age ought to weigh about 150 pounds, a snake expert testified during the trial.
Hare and Darnell, who have lived together off and on for the past four years, are parents of a daughter who was born about a month after the python killed Shaianna. The newborn was placed temporarily into protective custody by the state Department of Children & Families but later reunited with Hare and Darnell because the agency had no legal grounds to terminate their parental rights. The agency is not currently involved with the family.
It was not clear who is caring for that child now as Hare's mother testified for the state, saying she had warned her daughter that the snake was dangerous and even offered to buy it, keep it at her home or provide a lock-down lid for it. DCF officials said they had not been asked to intervene or take custody of the girl, who could be living with Darnell's relatives. His family owns the property in Oxford where the couple lived. DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said the verdict, secured with crucial testimony provided by an agency investigator, was bittersweet. "This is no longer just about one child, but another little one as well who, we now know, will need arrangements for possibly the rest of her childhood," Hoeppner said. "We don't know if and what arrangements have been made, but will be available to help in any way we can."
During closing arguments, defense lawyers insisted the couple had no reason to suspect the evil in Gypsy, a pet Hare had owned for five years and allowed children — including Shaianna — to handle with supervision. "Charles Darnell and Jaren Hare never in their wildest dreams ever thought this would ever happen," Arnold told the jury as Hare's lawyer nodded in agreement. "They had no idea that their tame pet would suddenly go wild." The defense lawyers said neither was guilty of child neglect, manslaughter or third-degree murder, a charge that alleges that Shaianna died while the couple was committing the crime of child neglect.
They were, at worst, "guilty of making a stupid decision and having a stupid pet," Arnold said.
Magrino (the prosecutor) showed jurors a pair of contrasting pictures of Shaianna — a photo of the toddler smiling in life and a post-mortem photograph of the strangled and bitten child. He called her death "needless, senseless, careless, reckless" and blamed it on "actions and lack of actions" by her mother and Darnell. He pointed out that Jaren Hare's mother, Sheryl Hare, had discussed with her a notorious Internet image of a large Burmese python attempting to devour an alligator that it killed during an interspecies struggle in the Everglades.
Jaren Hare, 21, and Charles "Jason" Darnell, 34, who leaned on one another after the verdicts were read, face prison sentences ranging from 15 years to 45 years for manslaughter, third-degree murder and child neglect.
Well, I am glad this ordeal is finally finished. I am sure the results will be appealed, but I think that the jury got it right on this one. It is truly a shame that little Shaianna died at the hands of irresponsible boid owners, but hopefully others will learn from their many mistakes. Hopefully Shaianna did not die in vain, and may she rest in peace.
A Sumter County jury has found Jaren Hare and Charles Darnell guilty of third-degree murder, manslaughter, and child abuse in the death of 2-year-old Shaianna Hare. The little girl was strangled by the couple's pet python on July 1, 2009.
In the end, the jury did not buy the defense that this was just a terrible accident. They held the Sumter County couple guilty on all charges. It took the six-person jury less than two hours to reach a decision, and now the two will likely face serious prison time.
The foreperson from this jury did not want to be identified, but she offered insight how they reached the verdict. "Even under the most remote circumstances, it was possible that the child could be injured. And it was their duty to make sure there was no possibility that a 2-year-old would be bitten or anyway harmed."
The medical examiner testified the toddler was asphyxiated by burmese python two years ago. The prosecution told the jury the hungry snake named Gypsy escaped from his enclosure, outfitted with only a quilt as a lid.
While pointing at the couple, Pete Magrino, the Assistant State Attorney, said "The snake is not at fault in this case. It's a wild animal. The responsibility for the death of that child is those defendants right there." Magrino also showed the jury two pictures. One of Shaianna as a happy child. The other was of her lifeless body with bite marks on her face. On July 1, 2009, investigators say the python escaped from it's tank and strangled the little girl to death. Authorities found the tank secured only by a quilt fastened with baby pins.
The defense argued all week that the snake was a family pet that had always been docile. Darnell's attorney said he had no idea the python would attack. "He is not guilty of manslaughter. He is not guilty of murder. He's not guilty of neglecting that child. He is guilty making a stupid decision and having a stupid pet," said defense attorney Rhiannon Arnold.
Hare's attorney followed by saying the python had been a family pet for five years. "If you have children around the house and it's a venomous snake and you don't put a secure lid on a venomous snake and it gets out and bites one of the kids, you should be punished. But Gypsy was a gentle snake," said defense attorney Ismael Solis.
The foreperson says they carefully went over Florida law on each count. And determined Hare and Darnell were guilty of 3rd degree murder, manslaughter and child neglect. "We feel extremely upset about having to make this decision, but we believe it was the correct one."
The defendants in this case were offered a plea deal for 10 years in prison, but turned it down.
Sentencing is set for August 24, and Darnell could face more time than Hale because he has 6 prior felony convictions.
Outside the courtroom, Shaianna's biological father, Joe Gilkerson said the verdict is a relief to him. "I'm glad to see justice served."
The following info was taken from here.
Shaianna's biological father, Joseph Gilkerson, 30, of Leesburg, a spectator at the four-day trial, said justice was served by the verdict. He was bothered by what he viewed as Hare's lack of emotion during the trial.
"You got some times (in court) where she's got emotions and then you got some times where she looked like she could care less," he said. "I mean, that was our daughter. How can you have an emotionless face?"
The couple failed in their duty to protect the toddler from the exotic constrictor, said the panel's foreperson, a resident of The Villages who spoke with reporters on the conditions that her face would not be photographed and she would not be identified by name. She said the jury believed that Hare and Darnell were convinced that the pet python was tame and its attack on the 22-pound toddler was an accident. "But we also felt that, as the (child's) adult parents and caregivers, their responsibility was to preclude any chance that there could be an incident of any kind, because a 2-year-old could not protect herself," she said.
The 5-year-old snake weighed 13.5 pounds when measured about a month after the attack. A healthy albino Burmese python of that age ought to weigh about 150 pounds, a snake expert testified during the trial.
Hare and Darnell, who have lived together off and on for the past four years, are parents of a daughter who was born about a month after the python killed Shaianna. The newborn was placed temporarily into protective custody by the state Department of Children & Families but later reunited with Hare and Darnell because the agency had no legal grounds to terminate their parental rights. The agency is not currently involved with the family.
It was not clear who is caring for that child now as Hare's mother testified for the state, saying she had warned her daughter that the snake was dangerous and even offered to buy it, keep it at her home or provide a lock-down lid for it. DCF officials said they had not been asked to intervene or take custody of the girl, who could be living with Darnell's relatives. His family owns the property in Oxford where the couple lived. DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said the verdict, secured with crucial testimony provided by an agency investigator, was bittersweet. "This is no longer just about one child, but another little one as well who, we now know, will need arrangements for possibly the rest of her childhood," Hoeppner said. "We don't know if and what arrangements have been made, but will be available to help in any way we can."
During closing arguments, defense lawyers insisted the couple had no reason to suspect the evil in Gypsy, a pet Hare had owned for five years and allowed children — including Shaianna — to handle with supervision. "Charles Darnell and Jaren Hare never in their wildest dreams ever thought this would ever happen," Arnold told the jury as Hare's lawyer nodded in agreement. "They had no idea that their tame pet would suddenly go wild." The defense lawyers said neither was guilty of child neglect, manslaughter or third-degree murder, a charge that alleges that Shaianna died while the couple was committing the crime of child neglect.
They were, at worst, "guilty of making a stupid decision and having a stupid pet," Arnold said.
Magrino (the prosecutor) showed jurors a pair of contrasting pictures of Shaianna — a photo of the toddler smiling in life and a post-mortem photograph of the strangled and bitten child. He called her death "needless, senseless, careless, reckless" and blamed it on "actions and lack of actions" by her mother and Darnell. He pointed out that Jaren Hare's mother, Sheryl Hare, had discussed with her a notorious Internet image of a large Burmese python attempting to devour an alligator that it killed during an interspecies struggle in the Everglades.
Jaren Hare, 21, and Charles "Jason" Darnell, 34, who leaned on one another after the verdicts were read, face prison sentences ranging from 15 years to 45 years for manslaughter, third-degree murder and child neglect.
Well, I am glad this ordeal is finally finished. I am sure the results will be appealed, but I think that the jury got it right on this one. It is truly a shame that little Shaianna died at the hands of irresponsible boid owners, but hopefully others will learn from their many mistakes. Hopefully Shaianna did not die in vain, and may she rest in peace.
Labels: Burmese Python tragedy, Charles Darnell, Jaren Hare, Python Death, python kills, Shaianna Hare, Sumter County Florida
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