Here’s the horrific moment a dad admitted his son was eaten by rats while he slept downstairs on the sofa.
Back in September 2023, David Schonabaum called for the emergency services after he woke up to discover his young son, who was six months old at the time, covered in blood after being bitten by rats.
The infant had suffered from more than 50 bites across, with his fingers badly affected.
Speaking to Evansville Police during questioning, Schonabaum said: “Blood was all over the pillow. I picked him up, I saw [sic] the blood everywhere, his diaper was half hanging off of him.
“I took him into the bathroom and I didn’t know what was going on at the time yet, because I hadn’t seen his hands…I thought he had a nosebleed.”
Fox 59 reported the boy’s flesh had been chewed off the top of his fingers by the rats, and once he had been transported to hospital for treatment, several of the baby’s fingers had to be amputated.
The Indiana father told police he had been working on getting the house clean and tidy for his wife prior to his son getting bitten.
The dad told the police there was a rat infestation in his house (Evansville Police Department)
“Trying to be a good husband and make sure the house is clean for her,” he told investigators, as per a video obtained by Law & Crime.
“Instantly, it was the rats because that’s the only thing that could have been in that room all night,” he said.
Upon further investigation, a prosecutor called the inside of the home a ‘house of horrors’, while the investigating team also found old food in Schonabaum’s room.
The dad admitted to regularly seeing rats in the bathroom every single morning, a short distance away from where the baby would be sleeping.
While officials released Schonabaum after initial questioning, he was later detained and charged three counts of child neglect — one for the injured child and two for the other children living in the ‘horror’ home.
The dad is now behind bars (Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office’s)
In October last year, he was sentenced to 16 years behind bars.
As for the mother, Angel Schonabaum, she pleaded guilty to one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury and two counts of neglect of a dependent and was sentenced to prohibition, according to the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutor Diana Moers said: “Today Angel Schonabaum took responsibility for her role in a home which was found to be a disgusting and dangerous environment for her three children to reside. Although she was not in the home during the rat-bite incident, it is important to note she is being prosecuted for not providing an adequate living arrangement for her children and has lost custody of them.”
Aunt to the baby, Delaina Thurman, also took a plea deal and was served two years of probation.
Although the baby survived, authorities say they will be permanently disfigured.
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Featured Image Credit: Evansville Police Department
Callum Jones
Toddler plunged to his death after being propped up by window to ‘watch trucks’ by his step-grandmother
His mother Gabryelle Johnson wants justice
The mother of a two-year-old toddler who fell to his death after being allowed to watch trucks by an open window is demanding justice.
Little Chandler, from Sparks, Nevada, US, has been described as being ‘the most unselfish child’ who always wanted to learn and enjoyed being outdoors.
However, on April 11, 2024, the toddler was found unresponsive after he fell from a five-storey window. Tragically, first responders were unable to provide life saving measures, despite their efforts.
According to authorities, his step-grandmother Darla McDermott was supervising Chandler on the day of his death in her complex.
Chandler Johnson tragically fell to his death from a five-storey high window (Facebook)
Police say that she left him on the arm of the couch so he would watch construction workers outside, as he loved big trucks. But McDermott left the tot unsupervised when she went to use the bathroom and by the time she returned, he was nowhere to be seen.
“I have nightmares all the time. This guy hollered at me, asked if it was my kid. I looked down, and he was laying on the concrete,” McDermott told KOLO TV. “I’ll never forget that day.”
His mother, Gabryelle Johnson, has now come out to reveal that justice needs to be served after police did not file charges against McDermott, as it was ruled an accident.
“You don’t ever expect to hear; ‘I’m sorry, your son is deceased’,” Johnson said.
She said she still finds herself dreaming of what it would be like for her child to grow up: “I wanted us to have all these great memories. Little did I know my son was going to pass.”
Chandler’s grandmother – Johnson’s mother, Sheri McDaniel – has also criticized Sparks Police Department and their choice not to press charges against McDermott for her role in his death.
The toddler fell from the fifth floor while watching trucks nearby (KOLO TV)
They have also queried whether an extensive investigation was conducted at the time.
“I don’t understand how someone gets away with killing a child,” McDaniel said. “She [McDermott] was the adult in the apartment. She’s the one that left him alone with the window wide open. He wouldn’t be dead if she hadn’t done what she did.”
“He was so happy … now his bed just sits empty,” she said. “I constantly told her to keep doors and windows shut. She played with him in the window for hours before leaving him alone. How stupid do you have to be?!? She needs to do time.”
McDaniel further told KOLO TV: “You have to be accountable for the things you’ve done and be accountable for the pain you caused my family because you couldn’t shut your window, and you couldn’t make him safe.”
Now, they have enlisted the help of a lawyer to check the case, while police confirmed that there are no pending charges regarding Chandler’s death.
UNILAD has contacted the Sparks Police Department for comment.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends on (877) 969-0010
Conversation2 Comments
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I agree that is gross negligence. Why didn’t she close the window? The child could still watched the trucks through the window, keeping him safe. Who leaves an unattended child by an open window? This could have easily been prevented.
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Why would you leave your child with someone you constantly had to tell to close the window?
Featured Image Credit: KOLO
Britt Jones
Woman recalls the moment she watched herself being ‘eaten alive’ by chimpanzee
Angelique Todd was ‘eaten alive’ by a chimpanzee in 1994
Warning: This article contains content some readers may find distressing
A woman recalled the horrifying moment she was being ‘eaten alive’ by a chimpanzee following an unprovoked and brutal attack.
Angelique Todd was working as a volunteer zoo keeper in Port Lympne Zoo Park near Folkestone, UK back in 1994.
During her time working as a volunteer, Todd struck up ‘quite a good’ relationship with a 33-year-old male chimp named Bustah.
But that relationship certainly took an unexpected turn when one day, Bustah grabbed Todd’s coat and pulled her arm into the cage while she was feeding the three chimps.
Speaking to Our World back in 2004, Todd said: “Male chimpanzees in captivity in general, you have to be careful with them, they are one of the most dangerous animals in the zoo. They can be very aggressive, very feisty so you always are cautious.”
A woman spoke of her harrowing ordeal when she was attacked by a chimpanzee. (Getty Stock Photo)
While they may have garnered a good relationship, Bustah was apparently in a ‘dangerous’ mood the day he attacked the zookeeper.
“He saw his opportunity and he took it… these kinds of events, you go in slow motion, you’re in shock, you’re trying to survive,” Todd added.
As the chimpanzee grabbed the zookeeper’s coat, Todd thought she could just take her coat off and she’d be fine.
But as she tried to pull her arm back, the zookeeper realized the strength of the animal was just too strong for her.
“I couldn’t provide any resistance, he was just so strong. It was pure survival,” she said adding that she was basically ‘watching [herself] being eaten alive’.
The chimpanzee bit off Todd’s thumb and index finger and severed her arteries, which caused her to lose a ‘huge amount of muscle mass’.
“I still have tooth wounds on either side of my arm but this is much, much improved,” she added.
Angelique Todd watched as the chimp ‘ate her alive’. (Our World via YouTube)
Despite her horrific injuries, Todd does not hold any bad will towards the animal, saying that she believes Bustah got ‘over-excited’ to see her.
She continued: “I think what he wanted to do was just get hold of me. I think initially, it was just ‘I can get hold of her, I can see a hole, there’s a way that I can grab her’ and that’s what his initial reaction was.
“After he bit my thumb off, obviously the blood started spurting out, then it became kind of like a feeding frenzy.”
Despite her bad experience with animals, Todd ended up pursuing a career as a biologist and researcher.
She studied to become a biologist and swapped Kent for the African jungle to become a researcher for the World Wide Fund For Nature.
She then spent the next decade living and ‘learning to speak’ the language of gorillas, adopting the moniker ‘The Gorilla Whisperer’ and featuring in the nature documentary My Gorilla Family.
Featured Image Credit: Our World via YouTube/Xia yuan/Getty
Callum Jones
Bodycam footage shows teen’s disturbing warning before he allegedly stabbed his mom to death
Collin Griffith, 17, is accused of killing his mom, Catherine Griffith
A 17-year-old accused of murdering his mother allegedly tried to tell her he’s ‘not a psychopath’ and ‘not this murderer’.
Collin Griffith went to live with his mom Catherine Griffith in Florida in early 2024 following the fatal shooting of his father in February 2023.
The teenager was initially arrested in connection with his father’s passing but it was believed he acted in self-defense and so Griffith was never convicted of any crime.
Collin Griffith pictured with his mom Catherine (@cathygriffith1985/Instagram)
On September 8, 2024, Polk County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the teenager who reported his mom had ‘fallen’ on a knife and was bleeding from the neck.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement: “The next morning at the medical examiner’s office, after the autopsy, the medical examiner said it is not reasonable or possible that she died the way that he said she did, just didn’t happen.”
Months before his mom’s passing, Griffith is reported by PEOPLE as having been charged with domestic battery.
FOX 4 Now has since released footage from body cameras worn by various members of authority. Take a look below:
One clip reported as being from an arrest in November 2023 sees Griffith’s grandmother speaking to someone in the back of a police vehicle – allegedly Griffith.
The video sees a voice say: “I was saying, ‘Mom, I’m not a psychopath. I’m not this murderer. I’m just trying to peacefully leave or peacefully coexist. We’ll just figure something out. She kept telling me to shut up and shut up, and when I wouldn’t shut up, she hit me.”
However, his grandmother contradicts his recollection of events, responding: “No, that’s not what happened. You never said you wanted to peacefully coexist.”
Body camera footage shows a conversation between Collin Griffith and his grandmother (FOX 4 Now)
Another part of the body camera footage shows Griffith’s grandmother explaining he asked to go into ‘foster care’ rather than returning to his mother’s home the day before his release.
In another video Griffith can be heard telling authorities: “I’m in a constant state of fight or flight. I don’t know, If I think she’s going to do something, even if she’s not, I might act. I’m not going to go crazy or anything but I’m not sure.”
When asked if he wasn’t sure if he’d hurt his mom, Griffith added: “Only if she tries to hurt me.”
Several body camera clips have been released (FOX 4 Now)
The probable cause affidavit also claims Griffith allegedly told police if he was returned back to his mom’s, he would ‘kill [himself] or [his] mom.”
Grifftith has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder. He remains in custody at the Polk County Jail.
State attorney for the Tenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, Brian Hass, revealed Griffith is set to be tried as an adult ‘based upon the egregious facts and circumstances of this case’.
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Featured Image Credit: Fox 4/Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office
Poppy Bilderbeck
Witness recalls horrific moment he found lifeless bodies of Delphi murders victims
The teens went for a walk together in a wooded area but never returned
A man who helped find two missing Delphi teens has recalled the moment he found their bodies.
On February 13, 2017, 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German were dropped off at Monon High Bridge near the small city of Delphi, Indiana, before disappearing.
The girls, known as Abby and Libby to friends and family, went for a picturesque walk in the wooded area but when their parents came to pick them up later in the day at around 2pm, they were not there – nor were they answering their phones.
A search party soon ensued that carried into the early hours of the morning, but when there was no sign of them by 2am it ended and continued the next morning at 7am (February 14).
Not long after their tracks were picked up, and the search party discovered their corpses.
More than seven years have passed since Abby and Libby’s lifeless bodies were recovered and the man accused of their murder is facing trial.
Richard Allen, a married 52-year-old who worked in a local pharmacy, was arrested five years later in 2022 and is charged with two counts of murder and two of felony murder.
Libby German and Abby Williams had visited Monon High Bridge to go for a walk together (NBC Chicago)
At the time, he pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, before prosecutors amended the charges earlier this year.
Now, taking to the stand at the Carroll County Courthouse, witnesses who were part of the search party have recalled the horrific moment they found the teens.
Delphi residents Patrick Brown and Jake Johns helped track the girls down.
Johns explained that he saw yellow, pink and blue clothing standing out against the dull winter landscape, and recounted how shortly after he heard Brown shout ‘we just found the bodies’.
“At first, I thought they were mannequins,” Brown explained about the horrific moment he discovered Abby and Libby’s bodies.
Richard Allen was arrested in 2022 (Indiana State Police)
Tragically, both girls had their throats cut, prosecutors state, while Libby was found stripped naked and covered in blood, Abby had some of Libby’s clothes on.
The trial also heard how Delphi’s former police chief Steve Mullin, who initially thought the pair would return home, visited an agricultural supply store called Hoosier Harvestore to view its security footage.
It is understood a vehicle that resembled Allen’s 2016 Ford Focus was spotted on the camera.
Taking the stand, Mullin explained that at the end of the first search he ‘had no idea anything nefarious had happened to the girls’.
He added: “At that point, I still believed that, given time, they would return home. I just couldn’t imagine that someone would do harm to them.”
