Prosecutor: Baby died of diaper rash

An assistant Iowa attorney general told jurors during his opening statement in the first-degree murder trial of Zachary Paul Koehn that Koehn’s son, 4-month-old Sterling, had been in the same diaper for nine to 14 days when medics were called to an Alta Vista apartment on Aug. 30, 2017.Prosecutor Coleman McAllister told a seven-man, seven-woman juror — two are alternates — that the diaper was full of feces that had attracted bugs. The bugs had laid eggs that had hatched into maggots.The diaper’s contents irritated the baby’s skin, which ruptured, and e coli bacteria set in, McAllister said.He said Sterling died of malnutrition, dehydration and the infection.“He died of diaper rash. That’s right, diaper rash,” McAllister told jurors during opening statements at the Koehn’s trial that is being held at the Henry County Courthouse in Mount Pleasant and began on Monday with jury selection.The trial was moved after defense attorneys requested a change of venue because of pre-trial publicity. The baby’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, 21, also is charged but will be tried separately.
— For more on this story, see the Nov. 2 Tribune