A 4-month-old Iowa baby allegedly died from e coli bacteria caused by diaper rash, the prosecutor said

Iowa Baby Died from Diaper Rash When He Was Allegedly Left in Baby Swing for Days: Prosecutor

A 4-month-old baby found dead inside a motorized swing last year died because he had “diaper rash,” a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday at the murder trial of the infant’s father, according to multiple reports.

On Aug. 30, 2017, authorities arrived to the home of Cheyanne Harris, 21, and Zachary Koehn, 28, and found the lifeless body of Sterling Koehn in the swing, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE. Both parents have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges and are being tried separately.

Get push notifications with news, features and more.

According to autopsy results, medical examiners found “maggots in various stages of development” in Sterling’s “clothing and on his skin.”

Prosecutor Coleman McAllister, an assistant Iowa attorney general, told jurors that Sterling had worn the same diaper for nine to 14 days when medics were called to the family’s Alta Vista, Iowa, apartment, reports the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier newspaper.

The diaper’s contents irritated the baby’s skin, causing it to rupture, after which E. coli bacteria set in, McAllister said.

“He died of diaper rash. That’s right, diaper rash,” McAllister said during opening statements, reports the Associated Press.

Image zoom From left: Cheyanne Harris and Zachary Koehn AP/REX/Shutterstock

• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Authorities believe Sterling, who weighed less than five pounds at death, was left in the baby swing for over a week, and that he was not bathed or changed that entire time, according to the criminal complaint.

Image zoom Sterling Koehn Iowa Attorney General's Office

“The facts of this case go far beyond neglect and show circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life,” Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Deputy Reed Palo wrote in the criminal complaint.

On Tuesday, Palo told jurors he found maggots and larva when the medical examiner began to remove the layers of urine-soaked blankets and clothing from the child, the Courier reports.

Zachary’s defense attorney Les Blair III told jurors that Sterling was not the victim of a crime but rather a tragedy, according to the newspaper.

“Nothing anybody says throughout this trial will soften that,” he said.