Three people in Evansville, Indiana, have been charged with child neglect after an infant in their care nearly died after suffering more than 50 rat bites.
According to Indiana news station WLFI News 18, David Schonabaum called the Evansville Police Department (EPD) to his home on Sept. 13 after discovering his 6-month-old son covered in blood in his crib.
The media reported that police found what appeared to be rodent footprints in the blood in the crib. They also saw clutter, trash and discarded food throughout the room that appeared to have been partially eaten by rodents, as well as rodent droppings.
Schonabuam told EPD officers that he had been using Terminix to treat a rat and mouse infestation in his home since March, according to Indiana news station WNDU.
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David Schonabaum.
Vanderburgh County Jail
According to 14 News, EPD said the child had more than 50 bites on his forehead, cheek, nose, thigh, foot and fingers. The child also had bites along the entire right elbow down to the hand with exposed finger bones.
Arrest affidavits obtained by WLFI News 18 reportedly reveal the baby’s temperature at the time was 93.5 degrees — 97.5 to 99.3 degrees is the normal range for an infant — and that he later required a blood transfusion due to the amount of blood which he lost.
The baby was taken to a nearby hospital before being transferred to another hospital in Indianapolis. EPD Sergeant Anna Gray said Friday the child has been released from the hospital, 14 News reports.
EPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Angel Schonabaum.
Vanderburgh County Jail
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According to 14 News, David and his wife, Angel Schonabaum, lived in the home with their 6-month-old son, as well as a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old. Angela’s sister, Delaina Thurman, and her two children, a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old, were also residents.
Indiana news station WNDU reported that the Indiana Department of Child Care Services (DCS) visited the Schonabaum residence on Sept. 5, after two children told their teachers on Sept. 1 that mice had bitten their toes while they were sleeping.
Thurman told a DCS worker that the marks on her child’s toes were most likely scratches from the bed frame, the paper reported. The case manager then continued to review the security plan and scheduled another visit on September 14th.
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Delaina Thurman.
Vanderburgh County Jail
After the 6-month-old was taken to the hospital, police booked David and Angelo Schonabaum and Thurman into the Vanderburgh County Jail Thursday on charges of child neglect, with bail set for the Schonabaums at $10,000 and bail for Thurman at $2,500. according to WLFI News on the 18th.
“The only reason we even knew about it was because the dad woke up and the baby was covered in blood,” Sgt. Gray told 14 News. “It was our first involvement — we should have been involved. Someone should have picked up the phone and called us before that.”
According to WNDU, DCS previously looked at the home in 2022 after an allegation that one of the children was injured due to a lack of supervision. This resulted in case managers visiting twice a week since April, the last time on September 9. A physical abuse lawsuit was filed against David Schonabaum in June 2023, the outlet reported.
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