4-Month-Old Dies In Maggot-Infested Swing, Mother Gets Life Imprisonment

An Iowa mom was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole over the death of her 4-month-old child whose lifeless body was found in a maggot-infested swing. Cheyanne Harris, 22, was sentenced on Tuesday in New Hampton to the state-mandated penalty.

Plymouth County jurors found Harris guilty to first-degree murder and child endangerment causing death. Authorities found Sterling Koehn lifeless and bleeding from the mouth when he was found rotting in his swing in a sweltering bedroom on Aug. 30, 2017, in an apartment in Alta Vista, Chickasaw County.

An autopsy revealed the baby died of malnutrition, dehydration and an E. coli infection.

The mother, who was a drug user, was arrested after medics found the baby. She had caused a break in her trial in January when she cried after seeing pictures of her lifeless child. She pleaded not guilty to the death of the child.

Police said the parents neglected the child and they had everything in the house to care for the baby. The baby's father, Zachary Koehn, made $45,000 a year and had access to health insurance. Witnesses told the court the apartment smelled of urine, feces and decay, according to The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports.

A forensic entomologist said the baby was in his swing for nine to 14 days in the same diaper and he had "not had a diaper change, bath, or been removed from the seat in over a week."

The child's father also got mandatory prison sentence of life without parole for child endangerment that caused the death.