Judge moves one Alta Vista murder trial out of county

New Hampton Tribune Staff

The trial of a former Alta Vista man charged in the death of his infant son will be held in Henry County this fall after a district court judge ordered a change of venue.

Zachary Paul Koehn’s trial on charges of first-degree murder and child endangerment is now set to begin Oct. 29 in Mount Pleasant.

The 28-year-old Koehn, whose 4-month-old son, Sterling, died in late August, and Koehn’s attorneys had requested the trial be moved because they said he could not receive a fair trial in Chickasaw County because of the amount of publicity surrounding the case.

Prosecutors did not challenge the defense motion, but they did ask that the case be tried in a county with the same demographics as Chickasaw County.

Judge Richard Stohl ordered the change of venue and filed his ruling late last week.

Mount Pleasant is located about 50 miles south of Iowa City and Henry County has a population of about 19,000, while Chickasaw County’s population is about 13,000.

Sterling Koehn’s mother, Cheyenne Renae Harris, 21, is also charged, and her trial will be held separately.

In a June 7 order, Stochl cited an agreement between prosecutors and defense attorneys to hold Harris’ trial outside of Chickasaw County, but no date and location has been set. Prosecutors have said her trial would be held after Koehn’s.

Sterling was found dead in a swing seat at the couple’s Alta Vista apartment Aug. 30. An autopsy determined that he hadn’t been changed, bathed or moved from the seat in at least a week, and the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office arrested the couple in October, alleging that Sterling had died because of a denial of critical care.