Mike Kilen

The Des Moines Register

ALTA VISTA, Iowa — Although not many in this town a few blocks wide knew the baby found dead two months ago in his powered swing, residents plan to gather Saturday night to mourn what could have been.

They struggle to understand how Sterling Koehn's diaper could not have been changed for more than a week, how the 4-month-old boy's body could have been left in the baby swing for so long that maggots were crawling on him when Chickasaw County sheriff's deputies and medics arrived at his parents' apartment Aug. 30.

They wonder how Sterling could have been neglected so much that he weighed less than 7 pounds, less than the average weight of newborns in the United States.

“A lot of crying being done and feeling sorry,” said Fran Boehmer, who works at the public library. “It wrecked our town. We’ve got a bad reputation now.”

► Oct. 26:Baby found rotting in swing; parents charged with murder

► Oct. 17:Mother worried about deportation drowns infant, 5-year-old, police say

► Oct. 16:Child dies after 325-pound adult sat on her as punishment

Sterling's parents — Zachary Koehn, 28, and Cheyanne Harris, 20 — were charged Oct. 25 with first-degree murder and child endangerment. The couple's cash bond was set at $100,000, and they remain in jail.

Iowa's state medical examiner ruled the cause of death as a failure to provide critical care.

Among the mourners at Saturday's vigil will be Zach Koehn’s brother Danny, who said he knew the couple had drug problems.

Harris reported last using methamphetamine two to three weeks before her arrest and Zach Koehn said he last used meth two months ago, according to court records filed after the arrest. Both were in treatment for substance abuse

“Enjoying the clean life,” Zach Koehn posted Oct. 3 on a social media account listed in his name.

Harris, who moved in with her mother in Riceville, Iowa, after Sterling's death, is also is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Zach Koehn began using drugs as a teenager, Danny Koehn said. He later married and divorced and has a 7-year-old child who lives with the Koehn brothers' parents in Oklahoma.

Zach Koehn had another daughter, who is nearly 2, with Harris when they lived about 15 miles away in Riceville, Harris' hometown. The family moved to Alta Vista sometime after Sterling’s birth, Danny Koehn said.

Zach Koehn got a job driving trucks and told his brother that he frequently was gone for days at a time.

“I talked to Zach a lot. He did have concerns about the child being taken care of while he was gone," Danny Koehn said. "He’d call and say the baby wasn’t changed for a week when he wasn’t home. ...

► Aug. 22:Iowa couple gets $3.25M after adopted son killed by birth father

► April 25:Father livestreams killing of infant daughter on Facebook Live

“It’s still the responsibility of the parents of the child," Danny Koehn said. "So I’m not saying he’s innocent.”

Sterling's funeral arrangements are pending, but the Koehn family hopes to bury some of his ashes next to his grandfather’s grave in McIntire, Iowa, about 5 miles from Riceville.

Cheyanne Harris is charged with murder in the death of her 4-month-old son, whose maggot-infested body was found in a baby swing in the family's home. (Photo: Chickasaw County Sheriff's Office)

Neither parent had a serious criminal history before their arrests although Zach Koehn was charged with theft for turning on the water to his home in Riceville when it was shut off for an unpaid bill, court records show.

Charges were dismissed when he agreed to make restitution to the city.

Sterling’s death comes amid a surge in child deaths in Iowa. A Des Moines Register investigation earlier this year showed that 11 children died in 2016 from suspected abuse.

And the Child Death Review Team, operating out of the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office, showed that caregivers involved in drug use or altercations mostly caused the seven homicides they investigated in 2013.

Danny Koehn said he has talked to Zach Koehn since he was jailed, and his brother was happy to see that citizens were coming to the jail to pray for him.

“He told me, ‘I think the public realizes I’m not as bad a person as they think,' " Danny Koehn said.

“But I told him, ‘No, people do that all the time. They come to prison to pray for prisoners,' " Danny Koehn said. " 'This is serious. It will be a miracle for you to get out of jail.’

► July 21:Man says he killed stepdaughter because 'it wasn't dinner time'

► August 2016:Detroit mother ran over, killed her 10-month-old

“I honestly think he will spend the rest of his life in prison,” Danny Koehn said.

Bella Snyder and Cam Haar, who live in an apartment down the hallway from where the baby was found, were horrified by what happened so close to them.

They have an 11-month-old child and knew the couple also had a baby but never saw the child nor the father.

“It’s sick," Haar said angrily. "You couldn’t put anything else in the newspaper. Being a father myself, there is no (expletive) way to explain it.”

Three other neighbors also said they rarely saw the couple.

In town, the outrage was still fresh. It’s been a topic of heavy lament every night in Schucky’s Bar & Grill, one of the few businesses in town.

“A lot of people are asking how someone could do something like that to a baby,” employee Debbie Crooks said.

It will damage trust in people who move to town, often seeking cheaper rent, said Boehmer at the library.

Some expressed guilt that they didn’t notice the family or the child’s suffering. Others are seeking ways to make sense of something so hard to understand.

► June 2016:Mom breastfed baby, then left her to die on beach

► December 2015:Man charged in death of 19-month-old in oven

“I would hope that they could understand (the parents’) point of view and they could find it in their hearts to try to forgive them for the harm they did to the child,” said Sue Cira, a student pastor at Zion Lutheran Church here.

Father Mark Murphy of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church here said he doesn’t know if any message will help citizens feel better, but gathering together to say goodbye to the child will.

“The candle is light in the darkness,” he said.

The candlelight vigil for Sterling will be in an empty lot flanked next to Schucky’s, where American flag siding covers the south wall.

“I was so angry I felt I needed to do something,” said Kim Judge of nearby Elma, Iowa, who organized the gathering. “I grew up in a big city and you see this, but in a small town it hurts more.

"Hopefully, we can bring awareness to child abuse and neglect," she said. "But mainly we felt we needed to do something for this baby."

So did the baby’s uncle, who is traveling from Mississippi for the vigil and turning right back around to return to his construction business.

“I wanted to support their awareness for child abuse,” Danny Koehn said. “No child deserves to go through anything like that.”

Follow Mike Kilen on Twitter: @mikekilen