THE mother of a two-year-old girl strangled by a Burmese python snake and her live-in boyfriend have been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter over the toddler's death.

Jaren Ashley Hare, 19, and Charles Jason Darnell, 32, also face child-abuse counts, according to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office in Florida, California.

The charges come nearly two months after the July 1 the death of little Shaiunna Hare, who was killed by the snake in her crib.

The mother turned herself into the Wildwood Police Department Monday after a warrant was issued by the 5th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office. Darnell, who was already incarcerated at the Sumter County Jail on unrelated narcotics charges, was notified of the three new charges yesterday.

The attack in the rural community about 60 miles northwest of Orlando, Florioda, was believed to be the state's first case of a nonvenomous constrictor killing a child.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway said the manslaughter by culpable negligence charges reflect a "reckless disregard" that is criminal. The third-degree felony murder charge indicates "the death was not intended. You didn't set out to kill somebody, but it was the result of your behavior."

Individuals can be charged with both counts and go to trial on both counts, but if they're found guilty of both, the court would have to dismiss one of the charges and convict on the other, Ridgway said.

The murder and manslaughter counts carry maximum sentences of 15 years in prison; the child-abuse charge carries a five-year maximum.

Both were held on $35,000 bond each in connection with the charges, which stem from the escape of an albino Burmese python from a glass container inside the couple's home in Oxford. The snake was later found wrapped around the child's lifeless body.

Darnell, who was not Shaiunna's father, discovered the child that morning. Sobbing during a 911 call, he said, "The baby's dead! Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby!"

The 8-foot reptile had escaped its enclosure earlier. Darnell said he had put it inside a bag and placed it back into the glass tank. He also put a quilt over the container, tying down the ends. But the python escaped again and headed for the young child's crib.

State wildlife officials said the snake was not properly secured and not registered as a required by state law. The python is considered a "reptile of concern."

During an interview with The Orlando Sentinel just about a month after the attack, Darnell said he and Hare were still grieving the death of the child. He called the snake attack a "terrible, awful accident."

"It's not guilt," Darnell said at the time. "It's remorse and grief. I'll never have another one (a snake)."

Darnell said the child's death - and the international publicity surrounding the case - made him a "monster" in the eyes of many. But he also said he had been around the reptiles much of his life.

"Some people are bird people. Some people are cat people. And some people are snake people,'' Darnell said during the interview.

The attack on the child was followed up by state and federal efforts to hunt Burmese pythons in and around the Everglades in South Florida, where the snakes have thrived, reproduced and become dominant predators of native wildlife.

Hare has since given birth to another baby fathered by Darnell.

Originally published as Snake death toddler's parents charged