Endangerment Counts Filed in Rat Bite Death : Courts: Police say couple living in car put infant and his sister ‘in harm’s way.’ They are also charged with manslaughter.

New accusations of child endangerment were added Tuesday to the charges against a homeless couple who claim they were asleep in the family station wagon when their starving pet rat killed their infant son.

Steven and Kathyleen Giguere each face involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the Aug. 26 death of their son, Steven Giguere Jr., who was bitten more than 110 times. Each parent was charged Tuesday with two counts of felony child endangerment. Both pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Tanizaki said outside court Tuesday that the additional charges were filed after police determined that both the 4-month-old boy and his 3-year-old sister, Karissa--who was not injured--had been endangered by their parents’ actions.

“It’s a continuing investigation, but we have gathered more information that the children were put in harm’s way,” Tanizaki said. “Suffice it to say that on the specific date in question, Karissa and Steven were in danger.”

Before Steven’s death, social service workers had been warned five times about the children’s safety, including a call that the infant’s own grandparents made just 48 hours before the fatal attack. Child welfare officials say early investigations turned up no evidence of an immediate danger.

The transient couple could not be located to investigate the final complaint from the grandparents, social workers said.

Funeral services were held Friday for the infant. The boy’s grandparents have collected about $2,000 in donations for funeral costs and a fund for Karissa, who has been placed in a county-run facility for neglected and abused children.

Defense attorneys for the couple declined to discuss the case. Defense attorney William Watson, who represents Kathyleen Giguere, said only that his client is “very remorseful.”

The Gigueres are being held in jail in lieu of $100,000 bond and face as much as eight years in prison if convicted of all the charges.

Kathyleen Giguere, 30, said in a recent interview that she and her husband, Steven, 27, became homeless about a year ago, after Steven Giguere lost his two jobs. The family was surviving on public assistance and had recently begun living in the station wagon full time.

The couple kept the brown rat, named Homer, as a pet.

Authorities say the pet rat, which weighed about half a pound and measured about 12 inches from nose to tail, attacked the infant as he slept. A necropsy performed on the rat showed that the rodent was starving at the time of the attack.

Documents filed last week during juvenile court proceedings to determine Karissa’s placement allege that the couple had abused drugs shortly before the fatal attack. But Kathyleen Giguere denied that allegation in an interview with The Times last week.

Results of tests on blood samples taken from the Gigueres after their arrests are still pending, officials said Tuesday.