Colorado man was killed by venom from his pet Gila monster

[Johnny]

After reading the article I think we are going to need to shift blame here. Our boy was stupid for even having the lizards, and definitely stupid for letting one latch onto his hand. From that point on, he might not have been in a proper state to make his own decisions.

According to the girlfriend ….

“She told police she had heard something that “didn’t sound right” and entered a room to see Winston latched onto Ward’s hand“

”She told officers Ward “immediately began exhibiting symptoms, vomiting several times and eventually passing out and ceasing to breathe,” according to the report.”

So she finds him with a venomous lizard playing pitbull on his hand. He starts vomiting, passing in and out of consciousness, even going as far as not breathing on his own. Dude wasn’t in any shape to be making decisions. When minutes mattered it took her 2 hours to call 911.

Perhaps the victim was trying to be as gentle as possible in getting the lizard to release?

[GimpyPaw]

Took the victim 4 to 5 minutes to get the lizard off his hand.

Took the girlfriend 2 hours to call 911.

Guess she had to look up the number.

[Sanders]

Considering Gila Monsters are a protected endangered species, there's a good chance he was keeping it illegally and didn't want the cops nosing around. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.