Affidavits: Baby nearly dies after being found with more than 50 rat bites, nearly missing fingers
Affidavits: Baby nearly dies after being found with more than 50 rat bites, nearly missing fingers
By Jill Lyman and Steve Mehling
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – Three parents have been arrested in Evansville after police say their six-month-old baby was found nearly eaten alive by rats.
If you spoke to people living on South Linwood Avenue, they would tell you their neighbors were good people. That’s because they had no reason to believe otherwise.
“They’re good people,” neighbor Tim Norton said. “They take good care of their kids. I’m always seeing them loading food into the house.”
Norton wasn’t the only person who thought the same.
“They have always been nice; they have always been cool,” neighbor Teressa Favors said. “I have always seen her take care of that baby.”
But everything was not as it seemed.
“People can put up a front, you may not know them well enough, or behind closed doors there’s things going on,” Evansville Police Dept. Sgt. Anna Gray said.
Arrest affidavits for David and Angel Schonabaum and Delaina Thurman show police were called to a home in the 1600 block of S. Linwood Avenue on September 13.
They say David Schonabaum reported finding his six-month-old son in his bassinet, covered in blood.
The baby was taken to the hospital, then flown to another hospital in Indianapolis.
“The only reason that we even knew about it was because the dad woke up and the baby was covered in blood,” Sgt. Gray said. “That was our first involvement, we should’ve been involved. Someone should’ve picked up the phone and called us prior to that.”
Police say the baby had more than 50 bites to his forehead, cheek, nose, thigh, foot, and toes.
They say his right arm had bites from the elbow down to his hand, and all of the fingers had parts missing, with exposed bones.
The affidavit shows his temperature was 93.5 degrees, and he needed a blood transfusion.
“I didn’t know about the fingers,” Favors said. “She told me that his face was disfigured.”
Favors didn’t know how bad it was until we spoke with her.
“How does a child get bit over 50 times and no one knows that the child has been bit,” Favors asked.
Police say the Schonabaums also had a three-year-old and a six-year-old living in the home.
They say Thurman, who is Angel Schonabaum’s sister, had a two-year-old and a five-year-old living in the home.
Police say the home was full of clutter, trash, and rat feces.
EPD Sergeant Anna Gray says it’s one of the worst child neglect cases she’s seen in her decades on the force.
“It’s really hard to see that and sometimes it’s really hard to maintain composure and be professional,” Sgt. Gray said.
Officers say David Schonabaum told them they started have a mice and rat problem back in March, and Terminix was treating the house.
The affidavit shows two of the children told a teacher on September 1 that their toes had been bitten by mice while they were sleeping.
On September 5, DCS visited the home.
Police say Thurman told the DCS worker the marks on her child’s toes were probably just scratches from the bed frame.
They say they went over a safety plan and DCS would return on September 14. However, due to past cases with the Schonabaum’s they would just continue with those services
Police say DCS’s past dealings included a 2022 claim that a child was hurt because of a lack of supervision.
In addition, a claim of physical abuse was made by a child in June 2023 against David Schonabaum.
“Any forms of neglect, none shown, none of that,” Favors said. “I’ve never seen it.”
Police say a case manager had been visiting the home twice a week since April 2023, and the last walkthrough of the home was September 9.
We reached out to DCS to attempt to understand how this situation was able to continue on for so long, they told us they could not comment on the case.
All three people are facing child neglect charges.
On Friday, Sgt. Anna Gray confirmed that the baby has been released from the hospital.
Copyright 2023 WFIE. All rights reserved.
Mom of Baby Who Suffered 50 Rat Bites in Bassinet Gets Probation
Angel Schonabaum pleaded guilty on Thursday, Oct. 24 to multiple charges in connection with the 2023 rat attack
By
Published on October 25, 2024 10:14PM EDT
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Content warning: This story contains graphic details.
The mother of a 6-month-old Indiana boy who was left seriously injured after being found with more than 50 rat bites covering his body has been sentenced to probation, authorities said.
Angel Schonabaum pleaded guilty on Thursday, Oct. 24, to one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury and two counts of neglect of a dependent in connection with the 2023 rat attack, according to a statement shared by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office.
She was subsequently sentenced to four years in prison but was credited for the year she had already served behind bars, per the statement. A judge suspended the remaining three years and ordered Schonabaum to instead serve probation.
The sentencing comes weeks after her husband, David Schonabaum, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his role in the attack. He was convicted of similar neglect charges and serious bodily injury, according to the statement.
Prosecutors said in the statement that the infant was in the father’s care at the time of the attack while the mother had moved out of the home weeks prior.
Indiana Baby Found with More Than 50 Rat Bites Covering His Body
On Sept. 13, 2023, David called 911 from his Evansville, Ind., home, saying he had found his infant son covered in blood in his bassinet, per the statement. The baby had over 50 rat bites covering his body, authorities said.
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According to the statement, the infant’s right hand suffered the most traumatic injuries, with all four fingers and the thumb “missing flesh and exposing the fingertip bones.”
Indiana news station WLFI News 18 previously reported that police found what looked like rodent footprints in the blood in the bassinet. They also saw clutter, trash and discarded food all over the room that appeared to have been partially eaten by rodents, as well as rodent feces, per the outlet.
The Department of Child Services had already been “providing services to the home to address the safety concerns associated with the conditions of the house,” per the statement.
Prosecutors said Angel was “held accountable for the deplorable conditions of the home which she was responsible for when residing there— and for which she was offered multiple services to assist with clean-up of the home and did not cooperate or remove the children from the home. This matter has ultimately resulted in losing custody of her children.”
In addition to Angel’s sentence, she was ordered to have no contact with her children and undergo a mental health evaluation.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
