WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A jury has found a Waterloo man guilty of manslaughter and child endangerment resulting in death for the 2017 beating death of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son.
The Courier reports that Walter Cordell Williams was convicted Friday in Black Hawk County District Court. The 24-year-old man faces more than 50 years in prison when he’s sentenced at a later date.
Prosecutors had sought a first-degree murder conviction, which would have brought a mandatory life sentence.

Police said Williams called 911 on July 8, 2017, to report 4-year-old Jaheem Harris had accidentally drowned in a bathtub, but an autopsy showed the child had been so severely beaten that it caused fatal internal injuries.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa father on trial for the gruesome death of his infant son blamed the baby’s mother from the stand Friday. Zachary Paul Koehn, 29, said under questioning from his attorney that he had entrusted care of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn to the baby’s mother, the Courier reported. “I put my trust in the wrong person,” Koehn said repeatedly. He also pointed to the 70 to 80 hours a week he worked as a truck driver, while the baby’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, did not work outside the home.

But under cross-examination from the prosecutor, Koehn conceded he took better care of his dog than he did of the baby. He also admitted to being a longtime meth user and providing Harris with meth, as well. Koehn is on trial for murder and child endangerment in the August 2017 death of the baby. The infant was found dead in a maggot-infested diaper and baby swing, weighing only a few ounces more than his birth weight.

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. Harris is also charged and faces a separate trial at a later date. Koehn’s trial was moved from Chickasaw County to Henry County to counter pretrial publicity in the case.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Many wealthy politicians occupy governor’s offices and congressional seats, making it notable that Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds made an issue of Democratic candidate Fred Hubbell’s inherited wealth. GOP officials have called Hubbell “Prince Frederick,” and Reynolds says it’s a fair question whether Hubbell can relate to working Iowans. Hubbell says Reynolds has targeted his wealth because she doesn’t have a strong record to run on.

At least 11 current U.S. governors have millions in personal wealth. In Nebraska, a Democratic challenger, Bob Krist, has made wealth an issue, calling billionaire Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts “Wall Street Pete.” Political consultants say wealth doesn’t matter much to voters these days. Instead, they’re drawn to candidates who aren’t career politicians, but outsiders with business experience.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa attorney has filed documents in state court challenging the validity of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ appointment of an eastern Iowa judge. Lawyer Gary Dickey says Reynolds failed to appoint Judge Jason Besler within 30 days as required by the Iowa Constitution. Reynolds filed the paperwork to appoint Besler in June five days after the deadline had passed. She says she made the appointment by the deadline verbally to her chief of staff but acknowledges no documentation exists to prove it.

Dickey, who served as former Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack’s chief attorney, filed documents Thursday seeking permission of the court to challenge Besler’s appointment. Dickey also seeks to move it from eastern Iowa, where Besler sits as a judge, to Des Moines to avoid having fellow district judges ruling on his status. In October Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady said the governor’s word that the appointment was timely deserves respect unless resolved differently through the legal process.

An organization whose mission of “Veterans helping Veterans,” is looking to assemble gift packages for about 50 Cass County Veterans who reside in county care facilities.

Ben Batholomew

Cass County Deputy Ben Bartholomew says the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association (CVMA) is asking for the public to help them put together gift packages to deliver to Cass County Veterans residing in the five assisted living facilities in Cass County.

Bartholomew says the goal of their program is reaching out to veterans to provide them with whatever they may need.

(Some of the items veterans in a care facility may need and enjoy include: a package of socks; T-shirts or a package of white T-shirts; Cologne; Soaps and body wash [Old Spice is a popular item]; Crossword puzzles, word search puzzles and other activities to keep the mind active; and decks of cards.)

Deputy Bartholomew, of Atlantic, is a Marine Corps Veteran and a three-year member of the nationwide CVMA.

He says “The CVMA is an organization of all [combat] veterans who ride motorcycles.”

(He said they help with financial issues from time-to-time, but most often it’s spending time with veterans, especially those who are elderly and/or need help with PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder]. Bartholomew says 22 veterans each day commit suicide due to PTSD and other issues. CVMA members respond to their needs, by talking with vets 24/7, in hopes those numbers can be reduced.)

Veterans, he said, are more willing to open-up to fellow service members about their experiences than they are family members.

Anyone wishing to contribute new items for Veterans’ gift packages, can drop them off in specially marked boxes located in Cass County, at: the Atlantic Hy Vee;Olsens BP in Atlantic; The Tiger Mart in Griswold, and Casey’s General Store in Anita. Those items will be collected between now and a few days after Thanksgiving, while you’re conducting your “Black Friday” shopping, and the days after. They’ll gather all the items afterward and begin to assemble the gift packages the first week of December, with delivery through Cass County soon thereafter.

(Radio Iowa) — Almost one-third of Iowa’s counties…including Adair, Adams, Audubon, Guthrie, Fremont, Harrison, Madison, Ringgold and Sac…are considered “maternal care deserts” in a new report. Stacey Stewart, president of the March of Dimes, says 29 of Iowa’s 99 counties are critically lacking when it comes to health care specifically for pregnancy. Stewart says women in those counties are at greater risk of complications from childbirth, including the death of the mother, the baby, or both.

“A maternal care desert is a county that lacks even the basic obstetrics services to help mothers safely deliver their babies,” Stewart says. “The county will not have even one hospital that offers obstetrics services and also not have any OBGYN or certified nurse midwife.” Nationwide, about 35-percent of all counties fall into the maternal care desert category and Stewart says a majority of them are rural counties. “About 20% of all the women who live in maternal care deserts actually live in urban and metropolitan areas,” Stewart says. “It doesn’t mean that just because you live in an urban area, all of the sudden you’ve got all the resources available to you that you need.”

More than 700 American women die in childbirth each year and some 50-thousand suffer life-threatening complications, making the U-S the most dangerous developed country in which to give birth. Women of color are most at risk of facing complications, and black women are more than three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. “We have in the U.S. some of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the world,” Stewart says. “Our rates of maternal mortality have doubled over the past 25 years. What it means is that women are dying at higher rates as result of pregnancy and childbirth as compared to women in other developed countries around the world and that simply is unacceptable.”

The March of Dimes is launching #BlanketChange, a social and video advocacy campaign focused on the iconic receiving blankets used to swaddle nearly every newborn baby. Other counties listed as “maternal  care deserts” include: Benton, Buchanan, Cedar, Clarke, Davis, Decatur, Franklin, Grundy, Hancock, Ida, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Jones, Keokuk, Louisa, Lyon, Pocahontas, Winnebago and Worth.

A Cass County woman was arrested Thursday afternoon on drug and other charges, in Pottawattamie County. A Deputy conducting a traffic stop on a vehicle, ended-up arresting 26-year old Destiny Jo Fuller, of Griswold, for Driving While Barred, Possession of a Controlled Substance – Marijuana, and Interference with Official Acts. Authorities say Fuller was in possession of a “Green leafy substance” weighing 11.5-grams.

A man from Walnut was arrested Thursday morning, in Pott. County. Authorities say 31-year old Robert Dale Hackwell was arrested at Oakland Foods on warrants for Violation of a No Contact Order, Criminal Mischief in the 3rd Degree (destruction and/or vandalism of property as a hate crime), and Child Endangerment. Hackwell was being held on a $2,000 bond for the Child Endangerment charge, and without bond on the other charges.

Pott. County Deputies arrested 40-year old Steven Uriah Brule, of Underwood, Thursday afternoon, on a Pott. County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. Brule was being held without bond in the Pott. County Jail. And, 54-year old Jesus Acosta Robles, Jr., of Sgt. Bluff, was arrested at around 2-a.m. today (Friday), on a Fugitive from Justice warrant out of Nebraska. Robles was taken into custody following an investigation into a rolling disturbance that was reported at around 1L25-a.m., on Interstate 80 eastbound where a female caller advised she was in a vehicle and the male driver would not let her out. The woman at least one other female were dropped off at the 17 mile marker. Robles’ vehicle was later stopped by a State Trooper after it was seen “all over the roadway.”