‘He died of diaper rash,’ prosecutor says of Iowa infant found dead in a baby swing

The nurse who first responded to a 911 call about a dead baby said the Iowa infant’s dad showed no emotions as he led her to his child, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.

Toni Friedrich, the first responder, spoke to jurors in the dad’s murder trial on Tuesday, according to the newspaper. She explained what she saw when she arrived at the Alta Vista home on Aug. 30, 2017.

“His eyes were open, and it was a blank stare,” she said of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn, according to the Courier.

Sterling was found dead in a baby swing in the apartment of his parents, 20-year-old Cheyanne Harris and 28-year-old Zachary Koehn, the Kansas City Star reported in 2017. They were arrested in October 2017 and charged with murder in connection to the death of their son, The Des Moines Register reported.

Responders saw Sterling with maggots in Sterling’s skin and clothing, which “indicated he hadn’t had a diaper change, bath or been removed from the seat in over a week,” the AP reported.

On Tuesday, at Koehn’s trial, prosecutors said that the baby was left in the swing in a “hot, stuffy room” for at least nine days but possibly for as long as two weeks, according to the Register. His dad finally called police, but it was too late.

“He died of diaper rash. That’s right, diaper rash,” Assistant Iowa Attorney General Coleman McAllister told jurors, according to the Courier.

The unchanged dirty diaper attracted bugs and maggots, McAllister told jurors, according to the Courier, and broke through his skin.

“The feces that sat in that diaper ate through his skin, allowing E. coli bacteria that was in his diaper and in his stool to enter his bloodstream and cause an infection,” McAllister said, according to The Register.

That infection contributed to Sterling’s death, he said.

At 4 months old, Sterling only weighed 7 pounds and was 14 inches long, KGAN reported. That was “well below the 5th percentile in both size and weight for his age.”

“The facts of this case go far beyond neglect and show circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life,” the criminal complaint said, according to CBS.

The trial for Harris, Sterling’s mom, will be held separately, according to the AP.

This story was originally published October 31, 2018 at 4:06 PM with the headline "‘He died of diaper rash,’ prosecutor says of Iowa infant found dead in a baby swing."