Harris gets life sentence

The mother of a 4-month-old baby who died in an Alta Vista apartment in August 2017 was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The sentence, which came 13 days after a Plymouth County jury, found Cheyanne Harris guilty of first-degree murder and first-degree child endangerment causing the death of a child, was handed down by Chickasaw County District Court Judge Richard Stochl.
Under Iowa law, the life-without-parole sentence for the death of Harris’ son, 4-month-old Sterling Koehn, was mandated.
It came after Stochl denied a defense motion for a new trial. Harris’ attorney, Aaron Hawbaker, argued that the state did not present evidence to warrant a first-degree murder conviction.
“As egregious as it was and as horrible as it was, it doesn’t meet the standard under Iowa code,” Hawbaker said, but Iowa Assistant Attorney General Denise
Timmins said the fact that Sterling died because of severe diaper rash, starvation and dehydration more than met the standard of torture and cruelty mandated by the code.
Stochl agreed.
Harris, who was dressed in jail attire, declined Stochl’s offer to make a statement, and the judge then pronounced the sentence.
— For more on this story, see the Feb. 21 Reporter and Feb. 22 Tribune