Father whose six-month-old son was found almost eaten alive by rats with 50 separate bites and his tiny fingers gnawed to the bone gets maximum sentence

By William On Oct 3, 2024

An Indiana father whose six-month-old son was nearly eaten alive by rats in 50 separate bites was given the maximum sentence of 16 years for his heinous crimes.

The boy, who was just six months old when he was found in September 2023, suffered more than 50 bites to his forehead, cheek, nose, thigh, foot and toes while sleeping in his crib in a ‘house of horrors’ in Evansville, before he was found by his father, 32-year-old David Schonabaum, the next morning with all the fingers on his right hand missing.

His son was on the brink of death and needed a blood transfusion, an affidavit showed. He was then rushed to a hospital before being transported 170 miles away to Indianapolis.

There, specialists worked day and night on the child’s ‘traumatic injuries’ and fortunately managed to save him, even though he is now permanently disfigured.

Schonabaum was convicted last month of three felonies related to the neglect and endangerment of his children and yesterday was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Police said at the time that Schonabaum, his wife Angel Schonabaum and the baby’s aunt, Delania Thurman, who also lived at the Evansville residence, allowed the incident to happen.

Police said at the time that David Schonabaum (pictured, left) and his wife Angel Schonabaum, pictured, right) neglected their child

Their home in Evansville, Indiana, was described as a ‘house of horrors’

They were also arrested and charged in connection with the incident. The baby’s mother pleaded guilty to neglect last week and will be sentenced later this month, while Thurman was sentenced to two years’ probation in April.

“Their excuse was that they didn’t hear the child crying,” Sergeant Anna Gray of the Evansville Police Department explained after the child’s release, noting that he was nearly eaten alive.

“The house was overrun with rodents,” she added. The home, which investigators said contained clutter and trash such as discarded food left in the victim’s room, was also believed to house four other small children.

“It’s one of those situations where they just aren’t paying attention,” she continued in the department’s official statement.

‘The injuries were significant and the child was losing blood at a very rapid rate.

‘[He] could have gone into shock early on.”

While the officer’s statement did not shed much light on the child’s condition, she did say that “based on what the doctors and nurses told investigators: [he was] very close to death.’

She revealed: ‘The child had lost so much blood that the child actually had to have blood transfusions as well.

Delania Thurman, the boy’s 25-year-old aunt, had been living in the home with her own two children for about four months, police said.

The affidavit also describes trash and trash detectives observed both inside and outside the home after arriving on scene – where they said they found several discarded food items in the victim’s room.

Police Det. Jonathan Helm wrote about how members of law enforcement found the child after receiving a panicked phone call from David – who reportedly woke up to the gruesome scene around 5:30 a.m. and wasn’t sure if his son was still alive.

The affidavit filed alongside the arrests of the Schonabaums and Thurman on Monday, meanwhile, provided some insight into the deplorable conditions the child was subjected to while living in the South Linwood Avenue home – which police said was full of trash , rodent footprints and feces.

‘Several fingers had to be amputated.’

Meanwhile, records show that a Maglinger Home Based Services employee visited the home much more recently — four days before the father called 911 — but again no action was taken.

It also shows how an allegation of physical abuse was also made against David in June 2023, and the claim was even substantiated by DCS at the time.

However, because the family was already receiving services at the time of the complaint, the decision was made to proceed with initial services, police said.

Days earlier, another DCS employee traveled to the home, police wrote, and spoke with Thurman — who told her there were a “normal number of mice” in the home.

The social worker added that when questioned about what appeared to be bite marks on the feet of one of the children, she denied that the wounds were caused by rodents.

A few weeks earlier, early in the summer, Thurman and her children moved into the house. David told police that it was actually owned by his cousin, and that the clan was supposedly allowed to live there under the sole condition that the house be maintained.

Gray said all the children have since been placed in foster care, including the child who was just released from the hospital.

“Their excuse was that they didn’t hear the child crying,” Sergeant Anna Gray of the Evansville Police Department explained Friday after the child’s release, noting that he was nearly eaten alive.

Police in the town near Kentucky say the trio, consisting of 31-year-old David Schonabaum, 28-year-old Angel Schonabaum and 25-year-old Delania Thurman, who also lived at the Evansville residence, left the incident take place.

In a statement, she said of the countless cases of neglect she has seen in the force over the past two decades, this one takes the cake.

“I’ve been an officer for 20 years and we’ve seen some serious cases of neglect, but nothing involving rats feeding on a child,” Gray said. ‘It’s terrible.’

Also found in the room where the child slept were what investigators identified as a series of rodent footprints left in the blood, as well as rodent feces and several objects in the room that appeared to have been chewed.

In other rooms, officers said they found more feces, as well as a series of rat traps and a bait box.

Police further revealed that the home had a foul odor coming from both the kitchen and basement, and that the child’s parents had two other children living in the home, ages three and six.

Police said the agency also began making biweekly visits to the family’s home in April 2023, where a social worker’s notes showed the home at the time was littered with trash, animal feces and dirty dishes.

But, the social worker wrote at the time, the condition of the home improved “slowly” and no action was taken against either parent.

The affidavit filed along with the arrests of the Schonabaums and Thurman, meanwhile, provided some insight into the squalid conditions the child was subjected to while living in the South Linwood Avenue home — which police wrote was filled with trash , rodent footprints and feces.

Police Det. Jonathan Helm wrote about how members of law enforcement found the child after receiving a panicked phone call from David, who reportedly woke up to the gruesome scene around 5:30 a.m. and wasn’t sure if his son was still alive.

“All four of (the victim’s) fingers and the thumb of his right hand were missing flesh at the top, exposing the fingertip bones,” Helm wrote, describing the damage the baby suffered overnight.

“The damage to (the victim’s) index and pinky fingers was the most severe,” he added, noting that the appendages were “missing the flesh halfway down each finger.”

Prosecutor Diana Moers said in a statement last month following Schonabaum’s verdict: “This case is horrific and we will live with the images of this baby forever.”

‘It is completely shocking to the conscience that anyone would live in these conditions, let alone have their children, babies and animals living among absolute filth when they cannot help themselves.

“It’s also unimaginable how a rat could do so much damage to this child before his father called for help.”