712 Digital Group - top

Medical examiner: Iowa baby severely underweight at death

News

November 1st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — A medical examiner has testified that a 4-month-old infant found dead and maggot-infested in a baby swing last year weighed only a few ounces more than his birth weight at the time of his death.

The Courier reports that testimony came Thursday in the murder trial of the baby’s father, 29-year-old Zachary Paul Koehn, who also faces a child endangerment count in the August 2017 death of his son, Sterling Koehn. The baby’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, is also charged and faces a separate trial.

Dr. Dennis Klein, chief medical examiner for the state, said the baby weighed just under 7 pounds at autopsy. Klein said the baby should have weighed about 11 pounds. An autopsy showed the baby died of malnutrition, dehydration and an E. coli infection caused after he was left in a soiled diaper for up to two weeks.