A young Iowa couple has been charged with the death of their four-month-old son after his maggot-covered body was found in their home, sitting in a baby swing, this past August. According to BuzzFeed News, 20-year-old Cheyanne Harris and 28-year-old Zachary Koehn were arrested on Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder, as well as child endangerment causing death.
A criminal complaint given to BuzzFeed stated that the "facts of this case go far beyond neglect and show circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life." It went on to provide details of the circumstances that led to the alleged crime: on the afternoon of Aug. 30, Koehn called an ambulance to the family home and told a 911 dispatcher that his girlfriend Cheyanne fed their son, Sterling, at 9 a.m. Koehn then said that when he came back to check on Sterling, sometime between 11 and 11:30 a.m., the baby had died. Cops who arrived at the scene found the infant dead in a powered swing set.
After an autopsy, authorities learned the four-month-old was severely undernourished, and weighed less than 7 pounds. Even worse, his body had rotted and was said to have maggots in "various stages of development" on both his skin and in his clothes.
Following police questioning, the couple admitted it had not checked on its son since the previous day. Further forensic examinations revealed the child hadn't had his diaper changed in more than a week, nor had he been removed from his swing.
After subsequent investigations uncovered these inconsistencies, the medical examiner concluded the baby's death came about as a result of "failure to provide critical care." Additionally, as pointed out by BuzzFeed:
The couple has an older child who lives in the house, according to court documents.
The couple will be represented by separate public defenders, and is set to appear in court next Thursday, Nov. 2, to be arraigned.
