Iowa: Zachary Koehn convicted for murder of 3-month baby, Sterling Koehn, found rotting in swing last year
The Iowa father of a 3-month-old baby whose body was found rotting in a baby swing, rotting with maggots, was convicted for murder and child endangerment,
Zachary Paul Koehn, 29, was found guilty Tuesday in the death of his infant child, Sterling Daniel Koehn, who was found dead sitting in a power swing on August 30, 2017 after Koehn called 911 requesting an ambulance to the couple’s Alta Vista apartment.
who died last year in a baby swing in the bedroom of an Alta Vista home, the Des Moines Register reported.
Officers arrived at the Riceville apartment of Cheyanne Harris, 20, when Koehn reportedly told them that his girlfriend, Harris, had fed Sterling that morning “and he was fine.”
Koehn said Harris checked on the baby a couple of hours later, and he had died.
The infant weighed just under seven pounds and was 14 inches long, well below the fifth percentile for the child’s age, according to an autopsy conducted by the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office.
Cheyanne Renae Harris and Zachary Paul Koehn
Documents detailed how examiners discovered maggots in various stages of development on the child’s skin and clothing, indicating the 4-month-old had not had a diaper change or bath in over a week and hadn’t even been removed from the power swing in that time.
Prosecutors contended flies swarmed the baby while he was alive, laying eggs on him and hatching maggots. They also claimed feces left in his diaper ultimately caused an E.coli infection.
Graphic photos entered into evidence at the trial showed the deceased boy bleeding from the mouth with his eyes open.
An autopsy determined the infant died of malnutrition, dehydration and infection.
Harris’ trial has not been scheduled. Koehn is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
