Grandmother, babysitter testify in murder trial

LE MARS (AP) — The grandmother of a baby found dead in an Alta Vista apartment testified in court Thursday about the short time she knew the baby, and said she didn’t want to testify against her daughter, who has been charged with murder.

Prosecutors say Cheyanne Harris, 21, failed to provide the care needed to keep 4-month-old Sterling Koehn alive. He died of malnutrition, dehydration and a diaper rash infection and was found wearing a bug-infested diaper in a swing seat in the family’s apartment Aug. 30, 2017.

Defense attorneys for Harris say postpartum depression played a role in the infant’s death.

Koehn’s father, Zachary Koehn, was found guilty in a separate trial last fall of first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death — the same charges Harris faces. He is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Waterloo Courier reported that Brandy Harris, Cheyanne Harris’ mother, testified that the baby was born sooner than expected, in a friend’s house.

Brandy Harris said when she went over to see the baby she started “freaking out” because the baby was in a bathtub after having just been born, and she urged her daughter to take the baby to a hospital.

Sterling was taken to a hospital and released a few days later with a clean bill of health, she said.

Brandy Harris said she had never been inside her daughter’s apartment because Zachary Koehn didn’t get along with her side of the family.

She said the last time she saw Sterling alive was a little less than a month before the boy was found dead, and he looked thin but otherwise healthy.

Another person to testify Thursday said he had smoked methamphetamine with Harris and Koehn at their Alta Vista apartment, and knew they had a 2-year-old daughter, but never knew they also had a baby living in the apartment.

Another witness, Jennifer Schriever, said she babysat for the couple’s two children twice. The first time, she said, she noticed the baby seemed underweight and had a raw diaper rash, but ate heartily.

Schriever said she babysat one other time before the baby was found dead Aug. 30, 2017. At that time the baby appeared a little heavier and the rash was better.

Schriever said she didn’t have much contact with the children after that. Then on Aug. 30, 2017, she saw Koehn outside smoking a cigarette, and asked him what was wrong.

She said Koehn told her the baby had died, and he didn’t know what to do. She said she told him to put out the cigarette and call 911.

The trial will resume Friday in Plymouth County, where it was transferred from Chickasaw County because of pretrial publicity.

Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, http://www.wcfcourier.com.