The father of a little boy gnawed by rats once boasted that his temper went “from zero to prison.”
The Indiana father was charged with gross neglect for allowing his little boy to be nearly eaten alive by rats in his house of horrors and once bragged that his temper went “from zero to prison” in no time. slipped.
David Schonabaum’s disturbing 2021 letter is among newly uncovered social media posts that offer a disturbing glimpse into the family and their severely dilapidated home.
“I avoid shit because I’m afraid of me, not you.” Schonabaum’s post from March 26, 2021 said. “The mood goes from zero to prison very quickly.”
Although police documents obtained by the Post show that Schonabaum is in fact a convicted felon, he was never sent to prison.
In 2021, he entered a plea agreement for meth possession and was sentenced to one year of probation, which he served on home confinement and performed community service.
Schonabaum, his wife Angel Renee Schonabaum and their sister Delania Thurman are facing child neglect charges after authorities found the six-month-old boy with more than 50 rat bites on his body – with his tiny fingers gnawed to the bone, according to reports.
The tragic boy was flown to an Indianapolis hospital where he was treated and received a blood transfusion after his body temperature dropped to 93.5 degrees, according to police records.
His current condition was not immediately available Friday evening.
Evansville police spokesman Sgt. Anna Gray called the gruesome incident one of the most serious cases of child neglect she has seen in her decades-long career.
The Schonabaums lived with the baby and two other children, ages 3 and 6, as well as Thurman’s 2- and 5-year-old children, in a house in town that reportedly belonged to a cousin.
Police were on scene on September 13th and found the injured baby.
Videos that Angel Schonabaum has posted online in recent months show the dilapidated condition of the housewith children sitting on the ground among rubble, power cables and garbage bags.
Several videos – seemingly meant to be tongue in cheek – show her husband, children and even the family dog with a voice that can be heard saying: “That thing next to you is a pain in the ass.”
Angel Schonabaum can be seen in a clip moved her gaze across the screen As a voice is heard saying, “You can let your eyes wander gently over the scene, you are a murderer.”
According to an Evansville police report, officers were called to the home in June after a relative threatened to “blow up their house” on the phone.
It is unclear who the alleged perpetrator was and police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
