Dad Who Fed Baby to Rats: “My Anger Goes From Zero to Prison”

Dad Who Fed Baby to Rats: “My Anger Goes From Zero to Prison”

On September 13th, 2023, officers with the Evansville Police Department responded to a call at a home located at 1606 South Lynwood Avenue in Evansville, Indiana. The caller, later identified as David Shaunabomb, told dispatchers that there was a baby in his house that required immediate medical attention. Allegedly, David awoke to find his six-month-old son covered in blood, and it looked like the little boy’s fingers had been chewed off.

When first responders arrived at the scene, they quickly realized that David was serious. The baby’s hand looked like something out of a horror film, and his tiny bones were exposed. There was blood everywhere. Paramedics quickly provided emergency medical treatment and stabilized the little boy before transporting him by ambulance to a local hospital.

But soon after arrival, the little boy was brought by helicopter to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis for more specialized treatment. Yes, he was that bad off. In fact, the medical staff that treated the baby described what he had gone through as a near-fatal event that required a blood transfusion because the little boy was starting to go into shock due to blood loss.

According to the doctors, he suffered more than 50 bites to his forehead, cheek, and nose alone. When he arrived at the second hospital, the little boy had an internal body temperature of 93.5 degrees. His blood pressure was 50 over 30. Now remember, a normal body temperature is about 98.6°. But what was really unsettling were the little boy’s hands, which was the injury that occasioned the 911 call in the first place.

The baby was missing flesh from all four fingers and his thumb on his right hand. As we mentioned previously, the bones were exposed on all of his fingertips. The worst damage occurred on his index finger and his pinky. On these fingers specifically, he was missing flesh down to his second knuckle. The wounds were so severe that some of his fingers needed to be amputated. The little boy also suffered bite wounds to his arms, legs, feet, and toes. But who or what would cause this type of damage to a helpless baby?

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Back at David’s South Lynwood Avenue home, officers and detectives with the Evansville Police Department were hard at work scouring the house for evidence. What they found after a cursory search was shocking. About 3 feet away from the bed where David and his wife Angel slept was a bassinet.

The room was full of clutter and looked like a scene from the TV docuseries Hoarders. There was trash, half-eaten food, and rodent feces covering almost every surface. After taking a peek inside of the bassinet, police found copious amounts of blood. A blanket, a Boppy pillow, and the bassinet itself were coated in it. It’s important to note that Boppy pillows are used as an aid for breastfeeding and shouldn’t be placed in a crib or bassinet due to the risks associated with suffocation.

David and Angel were definitely at the top of the running for parents of the year at this juncture. In addition, the diaper disposal container was also smeared in blood, and it had what appeared to be little rodent footprints covering it, as if the rodents were traipsing about in the blood. It was pretty clear who the culprit or culprits were that had inflicted such horrendous injuries on the little boy.

When asked how they could allow such horrors to be inflicted upon their son—because this didn’t just happen all in one night—David and Angel claimed that they had never heard the child cry, where the bassinet was just three feet from the couple’s bed. I find this claim to be utterly ridiculous, and the two of them are horrible liars in my opinion.

When local news station WFIE News 14 spoke with the Shaunabombs’ neighbors, they had this to share: “They’re good people. They have always been nice. They have always been cool. I’ve always seen her take care of that baby.” If you spoke to people living on South Lynwood Avenue, they would tell you their neighbors were good people. That’s because they had no reason to believe otherwise. “They take good care of their kids. I’m always seeing them having food in the house.” But everything was not as it seemed. “People can put up a front, or maybe you just don’t know them well enough, or behind closed doors there’s things going on.”

And there were. Police made their way out to the home on South Lynwood for a medic run. “The only reason why we even knew about it was because the dad woke up and the baby was covered in blood. And that was our first involvement. We should have been involved. Someone should have picked up the phone and called us prior to that.” Inside of the home, police say, were deplorable conditions.

An affidavit cited feces on the floor, rats in the home, and trash scattered about. That affidavit was for three people arrested in connection to the severe neglect of a six-month-old: Parents David and Angel Shaunabomb, and Delena Thurman, Angel’s sister.

“Did you hear how severe the injuries were to the six-month-old?” “No.” “Police believe that a rat or mice bit the skin off of the fingers of the child.” “Oh my god.” “The child almost actually died. Um, was rushed to Riley Children’s in Indy.” “I didn’t know about the fingers. She told me that his face was disfigured.” “Yeah. They believe that he was bitten a little over 50 times.” “Oh my god.”

Neighbor Teresa Favors didn’t know how bad it was until we spoke with her. “How does a child get bit over 50 times and nobody knows that the child is bit? Would you have ever suspected something like that to happen here?” “No.”

In the affidavit, police say the family was already under investigation by the Department of Child Services. The last home visit was September 9th. That was from a home-based therapy company called Mager Home Services. We reached out to the DCS to attempt to understand how the situation could have gone on for months. They told us they couldn’t comment on the case. EPD Sergeant Anna Gray says it’s one of the worst child neglect cases she’s seen in her decades on the force: “It’s really hard to see that and it’s really hard sometimes to just maintain composure and be professional.”

As for the accused, they face multiple charges of child neglect. A case so bad it nearly killed a baby who couldn’t defend itself. “Any forms of neglect?” “No. None shown. None of that. I’ve never seen it 50 times.”

According to Evansville Police Department Sergeant Anna Gray, quote, “From what the doctors and nurses told the detectives, very near to death, the child had lost so much blood that the child actually had to have blood transfusions as well. Several fingers had to be amputated. This was a case where rats had been living in the home. The home was overwhelmed with rodents. They said they were trying to get rid of the rats, but I think they were just trapping about for a day at least. I mean, that’s a lot of rats.” End quote.

As I’m sure you’re all pretty well aware if you’ve watched our show for any length of time, Drewie and I are big animal lovers. We have three cats, and I’ve kept fancy rats for the bulk of my adult life and believe that they make wonderful pets. But there are many dangers that occur when your home falls victim to an infestation. And it’s not just the potential bites. Rats can spread diseases that are dangerous or fatal to humans or pets. They can spread diseases through their feces, urine, saliva, and blood.

They can also carry ticks, lice, and other pests into your home, which can spread even more diseases. Now, some of these diseases are pretty nasty and include the Hantavirus, Tularemia, Leptospirosis, Salmonella, Rat-bite fever, and the dreaded Bubonic plague. You know, the one that killed 30 to 50% of the entire population of Europe.

A rat infestation can also trigger allergies and contaminate food. It can also affect your mental health. A study in Baltimore found that residents who reported daily rat sightings reported greater depressive symptoms than residents exposed to rats less frequently. Infestations can also cause property damage by chewing through wiring in homes and car engines. This can start fires by shorting out appliances or lighting fixtures.

The little boy’s parents, David and Angel Shaunabomb, as well as his aunt, Delena Thurman (who also goes by the name Cheyenne), were arrested and charged with numerous felonies stemming from the baby being nearly eaten alive by rats while in their care. Delena was living at the couple’s South Lynwood Avenue home at the time of this incident.

David was charged with one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury and two counts of neglect of a dependent by placing said dependent in an endangering situation. Angel was charged with two counts of the former and four counts of the latter, while Delena faced two counts of neglect of a dependent by placing said dependent in an endangering situation.

What’s even more troubling is that Delena had two children of her own that were living at the house at the time, and a search of Angel’s social media displayed family portraits that showed three additional kids. David’s social media profiles further confirm this. So, there was a potential of a total of six children living in a rat-infested squalor.

Her social media also displays that Angel worked as a direct care professional. Now, hopefully, she wasn’t also treating her clients with the same care she gave her kids. All three adults are currently being held at the Vanderburgh County Jail. David and Angel’s bond was set at $10,000, while Delena’s was set at $2,500.

The trio were scheduled to appear in court on Friday, September 22nd at 1 p.m. It should be noted this was not David’s first run-in with the law. In 2021, he entered a plea agreement for possession of meth and was given a one-year suspended sentence, which he served on home detention and completed community service. David was already a felon, but he had never spent any time in prison.

On a somewhat unrelated note, in June of 2023, police were called to their home after a relative threatened to blow up their house over the phone. So, who knows what other kinds of turmoil these children were being put through. As this case is still developing, we’ll keep an eye out for updates as they become available.

It’s unclear how the little boy is doing or what became of the other five children living in the derelict home. Let’s just hope that he makes a full recovery and that he and the other children will be placed in a home that is clean, free of rodents, and with adults who will love them and keep them safe.