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Man testifies he wasn’t aware accused father even had a baby

MOUNT PLEASANT (AP) — A former friend of an Alta Vista father whose infant son was found dead in a baby swing last year testified he wasn’t even aware the man had a baby.

Jordan Clark testified Wednesday at the trial of 29-year-old Zachary Paul Koehn, who is charged with murder and child endangerment in the August 2017 death of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn.

Zachary Koehn
Zachary Koehn

The baby’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, is also charged and faces a separate trial.

Clark testified he was aware Koehn had a young daughter, because he said Koehn would often talk about her. But said he didn’t know Koehn had an infant son, despite having visited Koehn’s Alta Vista apartment.

Clark also said that he, Koehn and the baby’s mother smoked meth, and that Koehn bought $20 to $40 worth of meth from him weekly.

Also Wednesday, the baby’s maternal grandmother, Brandy Harris, testified, saying that the baby “was his normal self” when she saw Sterling at a community celebration in early August 2017.

Harris said the baby was born in a bathtub at a friend’s house because he arrived one or two weeks early, and when Koehn called her to tell her the baby had been born and he had helped deliver it, she told him to call an ambulance.

There were no early concerns about the baby’s health, Harris testified. Although he was small — which she said she attributed to his being born early — he was active and appeared to be developing.

Harris said she had never been inside the Alta Vista apartment because she and Koehn didn’t get along, and when she went to pick up the baby and his older sister, she would meet them outside.

On cross-examination by the defense, Harris said her daughter, Cheyanne, didn’t work outside the home and was Sterling’s primary caretaker.

The August 2017 community event was the last time she saw the baby, Harris said.

Also Wednesday, the owner of the trucking company that employed Koehn said he was hired in May 2017 with a $45,000 salary, and the company offered Koehn health insurance but he declined it.

Koehn worked hauling chickens from Minnesota, Wisconsin and southern Iowa breeders to Charles City, working mostly evening and overnight hours, the owner said.

A prosecutor said Tuesday that the baby had been in the same diaper for nine to 14 days when his body was found in the swing by first responders at his parents’ Alta Vista apartment. The resulting diaper rash led to ruptured skin, and e.Coli bacteria set in.

A coroner’s report showed the baby died of malnutrition, dehydration and an infection.

Koehn’s trial was moved from Chickasaw County to Henry County to counter pretrial publicity.

Testimony is expected to continue today (Thursday).

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