Jan. 31 (UPI) — The attorney for an Iowa mother accused of killing her infant son blamed the incident on the woman’s depression as her trial got underway Wednesday.
Cheyanne Harris, 21, faces charges of murder and child endangerment causing death. The trial began Tuesday with the seating of a jury.
Assistant Iowa Attorney General Coleman McAllister said her actions led to the death of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn, but her defense attorney, Nichole Watt, argued it was not a planned murder. She said Harris experienced postpartum depression.
“The monster in this case is mental health. The monster in this case is depression,” Watt said.
Harris’ baby was found dead in a baby swing in a hot room in the home she shared with her boyfriend, Zachary Paul Koehn, 29, in August 2017.
The state medical examiner determined the child’s death was a homicide with the cause of death listed as failure to provide critical care.
The parents hadn’t changed their child’s diaper in nine to 14 days before his death and it attracted flies that laid eggs and hatched into maggots while Sterling was still alive. The maggots crawled in his clothes and his skin for days.
Harris burst into tears and left the courtroom after prosecutors presented a photos of the crime scene, including the dead child.
Koehn was sentenced to life in prison in December after a Chickasaw County District Court jury convicted him of first-degree murder and child endangerment causing death.
During Koehn’s trial, his former friend, Jordan Clark, said the couple smoked methamphetamine and Koehn bought $20 to $40 worth of meth from him on a weekly basis.
On Wednesday, Watt said Harris last reported using meth weeks before her son’s death and had no ill will toward the child.
Watt added the jury wouldn’t hear evidence of child abuse injuries before the baby’s death.
“You’re not going to hear any evidence that she’s evil; that’s because she’s not evil,” she said.
McAllister said Harris “failed little Sterling” and left him “unloved, uncared for, unaided by his mother.”
“Evidence in this case will show Sterling suffered in the last hours and days before his death,” McAllister said.
Toni Friedrich, a nurse who responded to the scene said she expected to perform CPR but found the baby was “cold to the touch.”
Tina Shatek, a mail carrier with first responder training who also responded to the scene said Harris appeared unfazed by the child’s death.
“There were no tears, there was no emotion,” Shatek said. “She should have been crying and screaming and upset.”
