EVANSVILLE, IN – An Indiana father has been sentenced to over a decade in prison after his infant son was found severely injured, having endured more than 50 rat bites in a shocking case that highlighted severe neglect.
Police discovered the 6-month-old in his bassinet on September 13, 2023, covered in blood, with injuries so severe on his fingers that bones were exposed. The scene, which authorities described as a “house of horrors,” left the infant disfigured and nearly dead due to blood loss, according to the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office.
The child’s father, Schonabaum, along with his wife Angel Renee Schonabaum, 29, and her sister, Delania Thurman, were arrested after Schonabaum alerted authorities to his son’s dire situation. The baby was promptly airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital, where he received critical medical care, including a blood transfusion.
Debilitating injuries were discovered on the child’s right hand, where all five fingertips had been gnawed down by rats. The residence on South Linwood Avenue, shared with the boy’s siblings and young cousins, was in a deplorable state.
Authorities reported this was not the first instance of rodent attacks at the home. Three other children had been previously bitten by rats, despite interventions from the Indiana Department of Child Services aimed at ensuring the children’s safety.
The Prosecutor, Diana Moers, described the case as “shocking to the conscience.” She condemned the parents for allowing such squalid conditions and lamented the delay in seeking help for the infant’s terrible injuries.
The child’s mother recently pleaded guilty to felony neglect charges and faces sentencing on October 24. Thurman was earlier sentenced to two years of probation.