An Indiana father whose toddler little one was discovered practically eaten alive by rats and disfigured in a pool of blood will spend greater than a decade behind bars after a choose slapped him with the utmost sentence.
The 6-month-old child was found in his bassinet lined in blood with greater than 50 rat bites to his physique, face and extremities — together with his tiny fingers gnawed all the way down to the bone — when Evansville police responded to the “home of horrors” on Sept. 13, 2023, based on the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Workplace.
Prosecutors mentioned the toddler practically died from blood loss and is now completely disfigured.
The infant’s father, David Schonabaum, 32, was sentenced on Wednesday to 16 years in jail after a jury convicted him final month of three felonies associated to the neglect and endangerment of his kids, Fox 59 reported.
“This case is horrific, and we are going to reside with the pictures of this child ceaselessly,” Prosecutor Diana Moers mentioned in a information launch.
“The infant lived in an absolute home of horrors alongside together with his siblings and a pet canine.”
Police arrested Schonabaum, his spouse Angel Renee Schonabaum, 29, and her sister, Delania Thurman, after the daddy referred to as 911 to report that his toddler son was lined in blood and severely injured by rats inside their residence.
The tragic tot was flown to an Indianapolis hospital the place he was handled and given a blood transfusion after his physique temperature dropped to 93.5 levels, based on police information.
Authorities mentioned the toddler suffered essentially the most traumatic accidents to his proper hand – with every finger and thumb lacking flesh, exposing bone all all 5 fingertips.
The household’s house on South Linwood Avenue — the place the boy’s 3- and 6-year-old siblings and 2- and 5-year-old cousins additionally lived — was in deplorable situation, infested with rats and stuffed with litter, trash, bugs and rat feces, prosecutors mentioned.
However the rats’ mauling of the newborn was not the primary time the vermin focused kids on the residence.
Three children within the house had beforehand been bitten by rats whereas they have been sleeping, prosecutors mentioned, including that the Indiana Division of Little one Companies offered help to the home to deal with security issues previous to the newborn’s horrific mauling.
Prosecutors mentioned the newborn’s father failed to deal with points that will have offered the youngsters with a protected atmosphere to reside in.
“It’s utterly surprising to the conscience that anybody would reside in these circumstances, a lot much less enable their kids, child, and animals to reside amongst absolute filth once they can’t assist themselves,” Moers mentioned.
“It is usually unimaginable how a rat was capable of do such injury to this toddler earlier than his father referred to as for assist.”
The kid’s mom pleaded responsible final week to felony neglect costs and will likely be sentenced on Oct. 24, Fox 59 reported.
Thurman was sentenced to 2 years of probation in April, 14 Information reported.
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