Photo: Iowa Attorney General’s Office; AP/REX/Shutterstock
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 hadworn the same diaper for nine to 14 dayswhen medics were called to the family’s Alta Vista, Iowa, apartment, reports theWaterloo-Cedar Falls Couriernewspaper.
“He died of diaper rash.That’s right, diaper rash,” McAllister said during opening statements, reports the Associated Press.
AP/REX/Shutterstock
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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, theCourierreports.
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.
The trial is expected to continue through the week.
source: people.com
