Cheyanne Harris is planning on using intoxication as a defense after her 4-month-old son was found dead in a swing.
A northern Iowa mom may use intoxication as a defense at trial after her 4-month-old baby was found dead in a swing, according to court documents.
Cheyanne Renae Harris, 21, was arrested in October and charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment after her baby, Sterling Daniel Koehn, was found covered in maggots in a mechanical swing at the family’s home in Alta Vista.
The baby’s father, Zachary Paul Koehn, 28, was also arrested and faces the same charges. They have pleaded not guilty.
In court records filed after the arrest, Harris reported last using methamphetamines two to three weeks before her son’s death and Koehn said he last used meth two months prior.
Harris’ attorney filed a notice of defenses on Thursday, also noting diminished responsibility may be used. A psychologist out of Ames may be used as a witness to support the defenses.
Their son was found dead Aug. 30 after Koehn called 911 requesting an ambulance to the couple’s apartment, court records show.
When Chickasaw County sheriff’s deputies and medics arrived, they found the deceased boy sitting in a powered swing in a bedroom separate from where Koehn, Harris and their older child slept, according to criminal complaints filed in court against the couple.
An autopsy of the baby’s body revealed “maggots in various stages of development in his clothing and on his skin,” court records show.
A forensic entomologist studied the maggots to determine that Sterling had not been removed from the baby swing for more than a week and that he had not had a diaper change or bath in that time, court records show.
The State Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, and the cause of death was failure to provide critical care.
Sterling was born May 1. He weighed less than 7 pounds at the time of the autopsy, court records show.
Harris’ jury trial is scheduled for June 11, but her attorney has filed a motion for continuance to set it for a later date.
Zachary Koehn’s jury trial is also scheduled for June 11. A judge granted a change of venue in April, due to the extensive media coverage of the case.
