An Indiana jury found a father guilty after his 6-month-old son endured 50 rat bites due to a severe infestation in their home, according to court documents.
On Wednesday, jurors reached a verdict, finding David Schonabaum guilty of three counts of child neglect involving the boy and two other children residing in the home.
“The victim in this case was a 6-month-old baby who suffered horrific rat bites to his entire body while lying in a bassinet in his home. When paramedics and police arrived the infant was laying in his crib in a pool of blood and the bites were so bad on his body — including his face, mouth, and extremities — that they left bone showing on one hand and he is now permanently disfigured,” Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers expressed in a statement.
The sentencing is scheduled for October 2nd. Charges of child neglect have also been brought against the boy’s mother, Angel Schonabaum, and his aunt, Delaina Thurman. Angel Schonabaum is scheduled to go to trial later this month, while Thurman has entered a guilty plea and has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence, according to records.
On September 13, 2023, officers from the Evansville Police Department arrived at a home in the 1600 block of S. Linwood Avenue after receiving a call regarding a baby in need of urgent medical assistance. A man named David Schonabaum contacted the dispatcher, reporting that he had woken up to discover his baby son “covered in blood,” and noted that the child’s fingers seemed to have been “chewed off.”
First responders quickly arrived at the location, delivering urgent medical care, ensuring the baby’s stability, and transferring him to a nearby hospital for further treatment. Shortly after his arrival, the boy was airlifted to a different hospital in Indianapolis for advanced medical care.
Hospital records submitted to law enforcement indicate that medical professionals characterized the infant’s condition as a “near fatal event,” necessitating a blood transfusion following a close call with shock.
Medical professionals reported that the infant endured over 50 bites to his forehead, cheek, and nose alone. A young boy had lost flesh from every finger and thumb on his right hand, revealing bone at the tips of all five digits.
The index and pinky fingers suffered the most damage, with authorities reporting that they were “missing the flesh halfway down each finger.” The young one endured further bites on his arms, legs, feet, and toes. Upon arrival at the hospital, his internal body temperature measured approximately 93.5, and his blood pressure was recorded at 50/30.
“From what the doctors and nurses told the detectives, very near to death,” Evansville police Sgt. Anna Gray told local ABC affiliate WEHT when asked how serious the boy’s condition was. “The child had lost so much blood that the child actually had to have blood transfusions as well. Several fingers had to be amputated.”
She remarked, “The only reason that we even knew about it was because the dad woke up and the baby was covered in blood.”
Upon returning to the residence, authorities reported that the infant’s bassinet was positioned roughly three feet from the parents’ bed in a room filled with disarray, leftover food, and rodent droppings. The investigator reported noticing “a significant quantity of blood” within the bassinet, accompanied by a “bobby pillow” and blanket, both “stained with blood.”
The affidavit reveals that the diaper disposal container was found with blood smeared across its surface, along with what seemed to be rodent footprints imprinted in the blood.