The woman whose lifeless body was discovered squeezed between the jaws of a 14-foot alligator had been arrested only two months before for trespassing on county wetland property.
Sabrina Peckham, 41, was recognized as the woman being carried by the beast in a canal down a residential street in Largo, a small community approximately four miles south of Clearwater, by authorities on Saturday.
According to court records, the homeless lady was apprehended by Pinellas County authorities at 6:30 a.m. on July 14 for trespassing onto a county marsh, just half a mile from where she was discovered dead Friday.
Peckman disregarded posted warnings about illegal entry.
She was freed from the county on Sept. 8 after pleading no contest to the misdemeanor and was fined $500.Records reveal she has a history of run-ins with the law dating back to 2014, including repeated trespassing offences.
Peckman was also convicted of various narcotics and theft offenses.
Investigators are still attempting to figure out if the gator killed Peckman.
A witness on his way to a job interview was the first to notice the 13-foot-8.5-inch male alligator carrying her body and called the adjacent fire station.
The giant reptile was “humanely killed” by authorities, while neighbors alleged responders hauled it from the water and shot it several times.
The neighborhood is next to Ridgecrest Park, which features a 5-acre lake reputed to be home to alligators.
According to neighbors, the gators roam the neighborhood on a regular basis, but the one killed Friday was one of the largest they had ever seen.
