Father of baby who died in maggot infested diaper sentenced to life in prison

An Iowa man has been sentenced to life in prison for the death of his infant son who was found in a maggot-infested baby swing.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Judge Richard Stochl on Tuesday sentenced 29-year-old Zachary Paul Koehn to the life sentence without parole, as was mandatory under state law. Koehn was earlier convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn.

Medics called to an Alta Vista apartment in August 2017 found the infant dead in the swing in a dark, sweltering bedroom. An autopsy showed he'd died of malnutrition, dehydration and an E. coli infection caused by being left in a maggot-infested diaper for up to two weeks.

A trial for the baby's mother, 21-year-old Cheyanne Harris, is set for January.