Bushnell, Florida -- On Tuesday morning, opening statements begin in the case against a couple who detectives say allowed their pet python to escape its tank and strangle a young child.

Photo Gallery: Python kills Florida toddler

Jaren Hare and her boyfriend, Charles Jason Darnell, walked into court Monday. They're on trial together for the death of Jaren's daughter Shaiunna and charged with third-degree murder, manslaughter, and child neglect.

The couple watched as men and women from Sumter County were questioned about how much media coverage they had seen of the case.

Several potential jurors told the judge they could not be impartial because they have grandchildren.

Bushnell, Florida -- Prosecutors say they know of nothing else like it in Florida's history.

A parent will be tried Monday for third-degree murder, manslaughter, and child neglect after a pet snake killed her own child.

The state says the facts of this case go so far beyond a tragic accident that this was criminal.

Documents show the couple had not fed the eight-and-a-half-foot albino Burmese python for a month before the incident.

And the python had escaped repeatedly from its tank in their home in the Sumter County town of Oxford.

The mother's boyfriend, Charles Darnell, told detectives the snake was in its tank when he went to bed on June 30th, 2009.

An hour later, he found the python in the hallway. So he stuffed it into a mesh bag and put it back into its tank.

Darnell told investigators he found the snake coiled around the head of two-year old Shaiunna Hare the next morning.

Citrus County, FL -- Citrus County is now accepting applications online for the following positions:

Librarian II

Lifeguard - F/T

Lifeguard - P/T - Temporary