Fatal alligator attack: Failure to act in Pinellas woman’s death ruled out

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – New bodycam footage shows the response to an unusual and frightening situation – a rare and deadly alligator attack.

Sabrina Peckham, 41, was killed last September. But it was only months later that investigators determined that her death was caused by an animal attack and not by violence.

The report details the circumstances of this rare but deadly encounter and sheds light on the threat posed to Florida’s native wildlife.

The video shows the moment a police officer shot the alligator that attacked Peckham. Investigators were searching for the alligator in the bushes on McKay Street in Largo, where the homeless Peckham lived.

Investigators do not know exactly how and when the attack on Peckham took place.

“There doesn’t appear to be any evidence that an alligator has come here,” said a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission official, referring to Peckham’s hometown.

The alligator was found in a canal that connects Taylor Lake and Ridgecrest Park.

“So it actually makes sense that there was a big alligator where she was, because there are big alligators in that canal, even much bigger than I thought,” a police officer can be heard saying in his body camera video.

Peckham’s daughter said her mother was out in the street fighting and she still wonders how she came into contact with a 14-foot-long alligator.

“She was trying to survive out there and that’s her main purpose, you know, why she was out there. She was just trying to stay off the streets so she wouldn’t get arrested and just trying to live,” said Breauna Dorris, the victim’s daughter.

Although attacks are rare, alligator trapper Phil Walters said people should consider this tragic attack a warning.

“Always be aware of your surroundings. Inform the predator, stare at it. This will often stop an attack,” said Walter. “But if you trigger the natural instincts of a wild animal by acting like its prey, then you are practically inviting it.”