Dad convicted after 6-month-old son suffers over 50 rat bites, leaving him ‘permanently disfigured’

September 16, 2024 Sharon Banks

An Indiana father was found guilty after his 6-month-old son endured over 50 rat bites in a home infested with rodents.

On Wednesday, a jury convicted David Schonabaum of three counts of child neglect for the severe conditions his infant son and two other children lived in.

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers described the case as deeply traumatic, noting that the “bites were so severe—on his face, mouth, and extremities—that bone was visible on one of his hands,” adding that “he is now permanently disfigured.”

During the trial, prosecutors revealed that the state Department of Children Services (DCS) had been urging Schonabaum to clean up the house for two years.

Despite repeated warnings and even providing reusable rat traps, there was no indication that Schonabaum took any meaningful steps to address the infestation.

Prosecutors argued that this negligence led to the incident that unfolded.

Schonabaum’s defense claimed that if the situation had been as dire as prosecutors suggested, DCS would have removed the children from the home. They also argued that he lacked the financial means to properly fix the conditions.

Sentencing for Schonabaum is set for October 2.

The child’s mother, Angel Schonabaum, and aunt, Delaina Thurman, have also been charged with child neglect. Angel Schonabaum will stand trial later this month, while Thurman has already pleaded guilty and received a suspended two-year prison sentence.

The horrifying events came to light on September 13, 2023, when Evansville Police Department officers responded to a call about a baby in need of emergency medical care.

It was David Schonabaum himself who made the call, telling the dispatcher he had woken up to find his infant son “covered in blood,” and that the baby’s fingers appeared to have been “chewed off.”

First responders arrived at a horrifying scene. The baby was stabilized and rushed to a local hospital, but his injuries were so severe that he was airlifted to another hospital in Indianapolis for specialized care.

According to medical records, the baby had experienced a “near-fatal event” and had to undergo a blood transfusion to combat the shock from his blood loss.

Doctors reported that the baby had over 50 bites on his face alone, including his forehead, cheek, and nose. Flesh had been torn from all five fingers on his right hand, with bone exposed on every fingertip.

The index and pinky fingers were the worst, with flesh missing halfway down each finger. Additional bites were found on the baby’s arms, legs, feet, and toes. When he arrived at the hospital, his internal body temperature had dropped to 93.5 degrees, and his blood pressure was dangerously low at 50/30.

Sergeant Anna Gray of the Evansville Police Department described the baby’s condition as “very near to death.” She noted that the infant had lost so much blood that several of his fingers had to be amputated.

“The only reason we even knew about it was because the dad woke up and found the baby covered in blood,” she said.

Back at the home, police found the baby’s bassinet just three feet from the bed where his parents slept. The room was filled with clutter, half-eaten food, and rat feces.

Inside the bassinet, detectives found a “large amount of blood,” along with a pillow and blanket, both soaked in blood. The diaper disposal container nearby was smeared with blood, and rodent footprints were visible in the blood.

When questioned by detectives on how they could possibly allow such horrors to be inflicted on a baby, the adults in the home said “they did not hear the child cry.”

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Sergeant Gray confirmed that the home was overrun with rats, and despite claims that the family was trying to get rid of the rodents, she noted that they had been catching up to four rats per day—a staggering amount that underscored the severity of the infestation.