Mother sobs during trial when prosecutors show photos of son

LE MARS, Iowa — An Iowa woman charged in the death of her baby left the courtroom sobbing during the first day of her trial when prosecutors showed photos of her lifeless son in a swing set.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports 21-year-old Cheyanne Harris caused a break in her trial Wednesday at the Plymouth County Courthouse in Le Mars.

Harris has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. She was arrested in August 2017 after medics found 4-month-old Sterling Koehn dead in the swing in a dark, sweltering bedroom.

An autopsy shows he died of malnutrition, dehydration and an E. coli infection caused by being left in a maggot-infested diaper for up to two weeks.

The boy's father, Zachary Koehn, already has been sentenced to life in prison.