Woman thought killed by snake was experienced with reptiles

VIRGINIA BEACH

The woman believed to have been killed by a pet python was an experienced handler and reptile department worker at an animal shop, friends said Friday.

Amanda Ruth Black was found late Tuesday night by her husband, police said. Investigators believe the 25-year-old woman was trying to give medicine to a 13-foot-long tiger reticulated python when it wrapped itself around her neck. She died of asphyxiation, according to a preliminary autopsy.

At about 5 p.m. Friday, the python was humanely euthanized, as the woman's husband wished, said Margie Long, Virginia Beach police spokeswoman.

At Pet Paradise on Kellam Road, where Black worked, manager James Severts said Black's family had asked store employees to refrain from speaking to reporters.

Severts noted, however, that Black worked on Monday and failed to arrive for her shift Tuesday. Her husband, who is in the Navy, was at sea and didn't return home until Tuesday night, Severts said.

"I'm still trying to fathom how it happened," he said. "She knew what she was doing. She was a professional."

Authorities found Black lying in front of the snake's empty container, and an animal control officer who found the snake in the room dragged it back to its container with the help of the medical examiner. The python, named Diablo, was taken to the city's animal control facility.

Black's death remains under investigation, but police said they did not suspect foul play.

In an online forum for VIIPER, a local reptile-lovers group, members posted messages mourning Black and discussing how to care for the several snakes that she and her husband kept in their Witchduck Woods townhome.

According to one message, the snakes included a 10-foot-long Burmese python, a 12-foot-long dwarf reticulated python, a 13-year-old Mexican kingsnake and two green tree pythons.

"It is a sad day for her Hubby and the snake community," wrote Amanda Warren, the group's secretary. "Also for the snake that was involved in this as well."

Black's family has declined to be interviewed, and friends said they had been instructed by the family not to speak to the news media.

Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com