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Iowa parents of malnourished baby sentenced to probation

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July 19th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — The parents of an underweight baby girl who tested positive for cocaine have been sentenced to probation. The Des Moines Register reports that 20-year-old Stazia Kirk and 21-year-old Zak Herman, both of Pella, were sentenced Thursday. The pleaded guilty in May to felony neglect of a dependent person.

Court documents say their 3-month-old baby, Charlotte, weighed less than her birth weight when she was taken to a hospital in December. A doctor said the baby tested positive for cocaine and was suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. The documents also say Kirk and Herman admitted to using cocaine recently.

Marion County Attorney Ed Bull said in May that the girl was thriving in her new placement.