Horrifying bodycam footage shows bloated 14ft alligator with 41-year-old mother in its body after she was dragged into murky canal and killed
Gruesome bodycam footage shows a 15-foot inflated alligator with the body of a 41-year-old mother in its belly.
Sabrina Peckham was eaten by the alligator after being dragged by the beast into a canal in Clearwater.
Peckham was unhoused at the time and was staying in an encampment near where the alligator was located and killed.
New images from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission show the aftermath of the deadly attack.
Video shows the huge alligator surrounded by police moments after it was shot dead. His stomach is visibly swollen with Peckham inside.
Horrifying bodycam footage shows a 15-foot inflated alligator with the body of a 41-year-old mother in her belly
Police also released images of the moment the animal was shot.
“Look at them, look at them,” a voice shouts before the trigger is pulled with a bang and a thud.
A passerby raised the alarm in September last year after spotting the reptile with what appeared to be a body in its mouth.
Soon after, several other locals witnessed the gruesome sight as the alligator dragged its prey away, with some even recording the scene.
Rescuers, working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, were able to remove the alligator from the water before shooting it dead. Officials described him as “killed humanely” after the horrific attack.
Sabrina Peckham was named as the homeless Florida woman who was mauled to death and dragged into a waterway by a huge alligator in Largo, Clearwater
Video shows the huge alligator surrounded by police moments after it was shot dead. His stomach is visibly swollen with Peckham inside
Officers taped the animal’s mouth shut and used rope and chains to pluck the animal from the canal
Officers taped the animal’s mouth shut and used rope and chains to plunder it from the canal, Fox13 reports.
They had to cut the side of his abdomen to remove some of Peckham’s remains.
After her mother’s death, Peckham’s daughter came out to deny that her mother had mocked the animal.
“My mother was part of the homeless population living in the nearby wooded area,” Breauana Dorris wrote in a Facebook post.
“It is believed she was walking to or from her campsite near the creek in the dark and the alligator attacked from the water.
‘We expected to spend many more years with her. Unfortunately, God called her home sooner than our hearts were ready.”
“Some details I would like to share is that my mother did not ‘taunt’ the alligator, as some say in the news media comments,” said Breauna Dorris (right), Sabrina Peckham’s daughter.
Two months before her untimely death, Peckham was arrested on July 14 for trespassing on a swampland just half a mile from where she was mauled, reports WFLA. She was ordered to pay $500 for that incident.
Peckham reportedly ignored warning signs posted in the area and pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge on September 8.
It wasn’t the first time she was arrested for trespassing, as she has multiple felonies dating back to 2014, records show. Peckham also had a history of convictions for theft and run-ins with police.
“No matter how you say it, no one deserves to die like this,” her daughter wrote online.
Breauna Dorris said no one deserves to suffer the same horrific fate as her mother
“To my mother: I love you more than I ever said, I miss you more than you will ever know and I pray that you look down on me and your grandchildren.
‘Please protect us. I’m so sorry this happened to you. I pray that you are at peace and no longer struggle or hurt. I pray that you found Mom and Dad and that you are all watching from above.”
It is believed the deadly reptile came from a nearby alligator-infested lake known as Ridgecrest Park.