An Indiana father accused of gross neglect after his baby boy was nearly eaten alive by rats in his house of horrors once boasted about how his temper “went from zero to prison.”
David Schonabaum’s disturbing 2021 letters are among newly discovered social media posts that offer a disturbing glimpse into the family and their severely dilapidated home.
“I avoid doing anything because I’m afraid of myself, not you,” Schonabaum said in the March 26, 2021 post. “Tempers go from zero to prison very quickly.”
Although police documents obtained by The Washington Post show that Schonenbaum was indeed a convicted felon, he was never jailed.
In 2021, he entered a plea deal for possession of methamphetamine and was sentenced to one year of probation, where he served on home detention and completed community service.
Schonabaum, his wife, Angel Renee Schonabaum, and her sister, Delania Thurman, were charged with child neglect after authorities found the 6-month-old boy with more than 50 rat bites on his little finger that had been chewed to the bone. Report.
The tragic boy was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital for treatment and received a blood transfusion after his temperature dropped to 93.5 degrees, according to police records.
His current condition was not immediately available Friday night.
Evansville police spokesman Sgt. Anna Gray called the horrific incident one of the worst cases of child neglect she has seen in her decades-long career.
According to reports, the Schoenebaum family lived in a house in the city owned by a cousin, with their baby and two other children, ages 3 and 6, and Ser. Mann’s children aged 2 and 5 years old.
On September 13, police arrived at the house and found the injured baby.
Videos posted online by Angel Schonabaum in recent months showed the home in disarray, with children sitting on the floor surrounded by debris, wires and garbage bags.
Several seemingly tongue-in-cheek videos show her husband, children and even the family dog making noises saying: “That thing next to you is really annoying.”
In one video, Angel Schoenebaum’s eyes can be seen moving across the screen while a voice is heard saying: “You can hover your eyes smoothly over the scene, you’re a killer.”
According to an Evansville police report, police were called to the home in June after a relative threatened to “blow up their house over the phone.”
It was unclear who the suspect was and police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
