Man on trial after escaped python killed 2 boys as they slept
File photo of a python (AP photo credit)
HOUSTON, TX - A Canadian man is now facing trial three years after an exotic python escaped and killed two young boys sleeping in his apartment.
Jean-Claude Savoie, 39, faces one charge of criminal negligence causing death, the CBC reports. The charge originates from the 2013 deaths of Connor Barthe, 6, and Noah Barthe, 4, who were having a sleepover with Savoie's son in the apartment Savoie occupied above his pet store, Reptile Ocean.
A 100-pound, 14-foot-long African rock python that was being kept in the apartment escaped from its enclosure during the night and found its way into the building's ventilation system. While the snake was slithering through the ceiling vents, the ventilation shaft collapsed, and the snake asphyxiated the boys while they slept. The python was later euthanized by Canadian authorities.
Jury selection began on Monday in the Canadian city of Campbellton, the Star reports. While 2,000 prospective jurors were called to the pool, several were dismissed because they knew family members of the victims—the community of Campbellton has a population of only 7,000, according to the Guardian.