What They Did After The Murder Was Even More Shocking! Even The Police CRIED! True Crime Documentary
- What’s your emergency? The other night, some guy, someone that I’ve known for a while asked me if you can put some boxes inside my um in my storage, right? And so we were going through the stuff and really a baby in her baby. I just seen the arm and I just know it’s a dead body. Police officers wept as they cut open a small blue plastic drum to extract the swollen and broken body of what appeared to be a six-month-old infant.
They were the first to realize with horror that this was not a baby but a 5-year-old girl. A metal animal cage in the bathroom. Handcuffs on tiny wrists. An empty dog bowl. A cruel mockery of a starving child. Systematic starvation over 3 years. a 5-year-old child who weighed as much as an infant. A child who, after an agonizing death, was stuffed into a plastic drum like a piece of meat.
The story is so cruel it seems impossible, but every detail is documented in court records, and the killer’s confessions were recorded on video. The pain was even greater for the family and concerned citizens when they heard the incredibly lenient sentences given to these monsters. Dear friends, please like and subscribe to the channel.
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On September 27th, 2012, Collie Cayen Armela Anderson came into this world. Big brown eyes that sparkled with curiosity. Her incredible smile immediately won the heart of her mother, Lyani Robinson. Her mother called her my miracle and princess. In photographs, Collie is always smiling, drinking from her favorite cup with a straw, hugging toys, or tenderly cuddling with her little brother.
She loved Hello Kitty. In one of her last happy photos, she’s wearing a pink t-shirt with her favorite character, her eyes glowing with joy. But even then, circumstances were forming that would turn her short life into a nightmare. Tyler Anderson was only 17 years old when he found out he was going to be a father.
By this time, the teenager was already seriously addicted, was a dealer in illegal substances, and had runins with the law. His relationship with Leuni was turbulent and short-lived. In that same year of 2012, Tyler met 17-year-old Everana Enoch at high school. The girl had recently returned from Ohio where she had lived with her mother after mental health issues.
She had received treatment and was taking medication. Whenever Yana learned about Collie’s existence, friends described her reaction as rage and deep distress. This moment became the starting point of hatred that would grow and strengthen until it destroyed an innocent child. But the most catastrophic decision came from family court.
Judge Cinder Rigggins Onjur, a woman later removed for systematic bias, awarded full custody of little Collie to a substance dependent teenage father with a criminal background. Maternal instinct screamed of danger, but the system refused to listen to Leani’s please. Her daughter was only 14 months old when she was given to her father.
Now she could only see her baby during supervised visits. Collie’s first years with Tyler and Everana were spent in Woodland, California. In October 2014, Tyler and Averyana had their first child together, a son named Tyrell. From this moment, Avana’s jealousy and hatred toward her stepdaughter reached a new level. She was convinced that Tyler’s family loved Collie more than her biological son.
In December 2014, Tyler took Collie for a routine medical checkup. She was just over 2 years old and weighed 28 lb, a completely normal, healthy weight. The doctor scheduled an additional cardiology consultation, but Tyler canled the appointment. The next 3 and 1/2 years of her life, Collie would not see a single doctor.
By 2015, Tyler’s aunt, Meen Dunis, began noticing strange things at family gatherings. Crescent-shaped bruises appeared on Kie’s face, exactly like those from fingernails. Ariana masked them with thick concealer, but when relatives kissed the girl, the makeup would smear, revealing the bruises. By October 2015, changes in Collie became obvious.
The 3-year-old girl had lost significant weight at a family celebration despite the hot weather. She was dressed in a long dress that concealed her body. But the most frightening thing was how Collie had changed as a person. Previously cheerful and outgoing, she now didn’t play with other children, barely spoke, and constantly stayed close to every as if afraid to move away.
When adults were distracted, the girl would secretly grab food from other people’s plates, devouring it with the desperation of someone starving. Meen Dunes could no longer remain silent. In October 2015, she contacted California Child Protective Services with an official report of suspected abuse. But after a superficial investigation, the case was closed as unfounded.
The system had failed Collie again. In July 2017, Tyler and Everana made a decision that would completely cut Kie off from anyone who might help her. They moved to Reno, Nevada, away from watchful relatives. By this time, the couple had a second son together, Titan. Tyler worked two jobs and attended college, being away from home from early morning until late evening.
Avana was left alone with three children. But while the apartment in the Brook Tree Apartments complex on Harvard Way was home for the boys, for Collie, it became a maximum security prison. The complex manager later testified in court. Three children were listed on the lease. But in all that time, I never once saw a girl matching Kie Anderson’s description.
In fall 2017, Kie’s grandmother, Donna Howard, came to Reno. When she asked where Collie was, she was told the girl was at 24-hour daycare. The next day, Tyler finally brought Collie to lunch with her grandmother. Donna was shocked. She looked sickly thin. Her skin was gray. There was no spark in her eyes, no joy that I remembered.
This was Kie’s last meeting with any loving relative. Her mother was never able to visit Kie in Reno. Avana did not agree to the meeting. In early 2018, Tyler and Avariana told friends they were getting a dog and went to a pet store to make a special purchase. They chose a large wire animal cage. Separately, they obtained real handcuffs, not toy children’s handcuffs, but metal restraints that cut into thin wrists and left bloody marks on the skin.
Aana installed this crate in the guest bathroom and locked the bathroom door. Now, no guest could accidentally enter. Every morning, Tyler would leave for work, kissing his two sons goodbye. He wouldn’t even look Collie in the eyes. To him, she was no longer a daughter, but a burden he needed to get rid of. As soon as the door closed behind Tyler, the little girl’s hell would begin.
Ariana would force Collie to undress completely and crawl into the metal crate. She would snap the handcuffs on her thin wrists, attaching them to the cage bars. The child couldn’t lie down or stand up fully, only sit in an uncomfortable position for hours. Meanwhile, in the next rooms, her biological sons would eat breakfast, play with toys, and watch cartoons.
They could hear their stepsisters crying and please, but their mother forbade them from approaching the bathroom. An empty dog bowl sat in the crate. a cruel mockery of the starving child. Sometimes every would pour water or dog food into it. Sometimes she’d leave it empty. Collie was lucky if she got a piece of stale bread or leftover cereal from the bottom of the pot.
Often she received no food for days. Collie had to drink from the toilet, which she could barely reach with her chained hands. When Tyler came home, he would see his emaciated daughter in the crate and say nothing. Everana would beat Collie with whatever she could find. Belts, wooden spoons, a broom.
She would hit her back, legs, and head. Bruises and cuts covered the child’s body from head to toe. But the crulest torture was psychological. When Tyler called home, Ariana would force Collie to speak into the phone. Hi, Daddy. I’m playing and eating. I’m a good girl. After the call, she would hiss in her ear. Your father doesn’t love you. Nobody loves you.
The mother who gave birth to you abandoned you. If you died, nobody would cry. By April 2018, Collie had become a living skeleton. The 5-year-old girl weighed only 16 lb, as much as a healthy infant. Her chestnut hair was falling out in clumps. Her skin had turned gray. Her eyes were sunken. She had been brutally beaten.
Her body covered with multiple bruises and cuts. Bed sores developed on her hip. Open wounds from constantly sitting in one position. Infection entered her bloodstream. Sepsis began. But Ariana didn’t call a doctor. She simply moved the cage so she wouldn’t have to see her stepdaughter’s festering wounds. On April 26th, 2018, Collie was particularly ill.
She could barely breathe and couldn’t lift her head. Her pulse was weak and irregular. At 10 p.m., Avana searched the internet for CPR. She understood the child was dying, but didn’t want to call an ambulance, fearing they would discover evidence of torture. Instead, she texted Tyler, “Your daughter is really bad.
Come home quickly.” When Tyler returned home, he found Collie unconscious in the crate. Her breathing was shallow. Her lips blew. “We need to call an ambulance,” he said. “No, I can’t go to prison. You have to save your daughter yourself.” Aana screamed. The couple tried to perform CPR. Then they put her under a cold shower trying to revive her, but it was too late.
The 5-year-old girl’s body couldn’t withstand months of torture and starvation. Late in the evening of April 26th, 2018, Kie Anderson’s heart stopped forever. Tyler and Everana didn’t grieve for the dead child. They panicked about how to dispose of the body to avoid prison. They stuffed Collie’s body into a duffel bag, then placed the bag in a blue plastic drum and sealed it.
They put the drum in their bedroom closet, just feet from the bed where their two children slept. On April 28th, Avana searched the internet for liquids that decompose acid and storage units. She planned to dissolve her husband’s daughter’s body like a piece of meat. Tyler researched ways to dispose of the body.
Burn it in the forest, throw it in a river, dissolve it in acid, bury it in the desert. For the next two weeks, the couple lived normally. They cooked food, watched TV, had sex. The boys played with toys, not knowing their stepsister was dead in the closet. When the smell of decomposition intensified, Avana forced Tyler to take the bag with the body and drive it around in the trunk of his car.
On May 10th, Tyler rented a U-Haul truck. On May 11th, he called his acquaintance, Joe Garcia, who managed storage facilities and asked permission to temporarily store some boxes. The plastic drum containing Kie’s body was sealed in a cardboard box. Tyler drove to Sacramento while Aana followed in her car with the two children.
At storage unit number 105, Tyler quickly unloaded the boxes, including the one containing his daughter’s remains. Joe Garcia couldn’t shake a bad feeling. Fearing the boxes contained controlled substances, he decided to check their contents. On May 15th, almost 3 weeks after Collie’s death, Garcia cut open the box with a knife and opened the blue plastic drum. Inside was a duffel bag.
When he unzipped it, he saw something that would change his life forever. The skeletal arm of a small child. With trembling hands, Joe dialed 911. The responding Sacramento police officers were shocked. They expected to see the body of an infant, but this was a 5-year-old girl who weighed as much as a 6-month-old baby.
Collie was found wearing an 18-month-old’s pajama onesie, a knit hat, and mismatched Hello Kitty socks, the same Hello Kitty she had loved in happier days. Next to the body lay a children’s Bible. A final cruel irony in this tragedy. On May 16th, Tyler was arrested on his way to the storage unit. Police found lighter fluid and matches in his car trunk.
He had planned to burn all the evidence. That same day, Detective Ben Rhodess arrived at the Harvard Way apartment to arrest Everana. The apartment was a scene of complete squalor. Two small boys crawled among the chaos in dirty diapers, hungry and frightened. In the guest bathroom, Detective Roads discovered the instrument of torture.
A large wire animal cage with bent bars. Handcuffs were attached to the bars. Nearby lay a child’s backpack with clothes and a hat embroidered with the name Collie. I searched the entire apartment for any signs of a dog, hair, toys, waste, nothing. But there were human hairs in the crate and biological evidence on the handcuffs.
The detective testified in court. DNA analysis later confirmed the worst. The hair and skin particles belong to Collie. Detectives took the two boys into protective custody and brought Everana to the station for questioning. The 4-hour interview with detective Jeffrey Boyd became a confession to one of the most brutal child murders in American history.
At first, Avana denied everything, then gradually admitted more and more facts. Tried what? Trying to help. How did you try to help her? CPR. CPR. Okay. Who was doing CPR? Me. You. We both were. We both were both trying. How long did you try? So long. I don’t remember how much time went by, but it took so long.
It was unbelievable. I was so upset with Tyler cuz cuz he said he he knew CPR. He said he knew CPR. He’d always talk about, “Oh, yeah. I got my CPR card or whatever. Did you call anyone? Call 911. I have to call my family or friends. Why not? When they announced her arrest, she broke down crying. It’s still an ongoing investigation.
All right. We at detectives have to do our due diligence for the sake of this entire case and for the sake of Okay. There’s still some things that we need to wait on for the autopsy and things of that nature, but at this moment in time right now, we’re going to go ahead and book you at our county jail. Okay. For child neglect for child neglect. Okay.
What’s going to be your charge? All right. What’s up? just want to die. At first, Tyler exercised his right to an attorney and refused to cooperate with the investigation. It was only on July 5th, 2019 that something changed. Tyler finally spoke the and I get in front of her and I’m holding her back, you know, and she’s trying to climb over me to get the and uh she’s telling me, you know, you always save her.
You know, you can’t always favor her. I go to the bathroom, right? And she’s in there. Um, and she saw the in Mary’s cage. And the first thing I do is get her out of the cage. You know, I assume, right? You know, what the hell is she doing in this case? you know, your brother said that, you know, she pushed she pushed your brother and then she said, you know, there’s nobody to show you.
So I said, what is it? You know, and then she goes and she rings out in her hand, you know, in her heart like, you know, life and she so I started doing CPR. I keep trying CPR, you know. I told her, “It’s not working. We need to call an ambulance. She said, “No, you’re not going to call an ambulance.
You know, I can’t go to prison. You know, if you call an ambulance, I’m going to kill you. You know, you have to save your daughter. You know, CPR, you know, you’re certifying. You have a car. You know, you have to save your daughter.” So, I grabbed my phone. I said, “I’m going to call the ambulance.
I can’t I can’t help her, you know.” And she snatches the phone from me. She throws that in the pantry or at the wall right next to the pantry. It hits the floor and you know I just I put my ear to her heart. You know I I thought I heard her stop eating this. You know she was dead. You know I don’t know. I don’t know.
There was just a lot going on. But she she was dead. You know I’m holding her in my heart and she’s dead. So I go and like I have a I have a duffel bag I duff bag wants to she wants to burn under a bridge near uh they said matter of fact I’m just I should just put the bag in the in the Sacramento River and leave it on the straight track you know that she said no because even if she gets run over by a train, they can still identify her, you know.
She said, “No, I’m just going to burn her body, you know, in the house.” I tried to take nothing back inside. And she said, “No, you’re not you’re not uh you’re not putting that in my house, you know, you’re going to keep that with you, you know, so that if you try anything, I’m going to be able to call the police and tell them that you have a body in your trunk.
back in front and double back. But what’s your what’s your reasoning for going down there on the day you got invested? Okay. Like get caught. I had a strong feeling that he would look at night or the next day because of the breadcrumbs that I’m leaving, right? The suspicions I’m raising.
His daughter’s worried, right? She’s there. So, she’s wondering what the hell’s going on. So, I knew that he would look. I just knew he would look. So, you were counting on being caught that day? Yeah. There’s all kind of empty cleaning product bottles in the bathroom across from room. Was this used to kind of clean up my dog’s method? All that bleach and clean.
That’s for the dog. Yes. Okay. The reason why there’s all this food and the dog the donuts for the door. Yeah. Pizza food. Was bathroom and that food given to her? No. In that fashion? Not that I know of. No. Not that you know of. No. The trial stretched over 3 years. In January 2020, Tyler Anderson pleaded guilty to seconddegree murder in exchange for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years.
Avana initially tried to make a similar deal, but the judge refused to accept it, calling the proposed sentence inadequate for the severity of the crime. Medical examiner presented heartbreaking evidence to the jury. All of Collie’s internal organs were underdeveloped from chronic malnutrition. Her thymus, a key organ of the immune system, had shrunk to the size of a pee.
The child had multiple injuries to her head, arms, and legs from constant beatings. Bed sores had formed on her hip from prolonged immobilization. Her ribs protruded through her skin. In August 2021, a jury found Aryana Enoch guilty of firstdegree murder by torture, child endangerment, resulting in death, and destruction of evidence.
She was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 20 years. The shockingly lenient sentences left Collie’s family devastated and the community outraged that her killers might someday walk free. Collie Anderson died on April 26th, 2018. She was 5 years and 7 months old. Collie will never go to first grade.
She’ll never lose a tooth. She’ll never blow out candles on her sixth birthday. She’ll never learn to read. All of this was stolen from her by those who should have protected her. She loved Hello Kitty and Minnie Mouse. She drank from a cup with a straw. She wore bright bows everyday. She played with pink toy cars and gently hugged younger children.
She deserved to grow up, to play, to laugh. She deserved love, not torture, protection, not betrayal. She deserved life. Rest in peace, little Angel Collie. 2 miles. That’s exactly how far first responder Tony Friedrich had to travel to reach the apartment and encounter a scene that would haunt her for the rest of her life because this was not right.
Something was not right here. There’s no CPR. It’s, you know, it just wasn’t right. His eyes were fixed and dilated. staring straight out. Um, uh, he had blood around his mouth and, uh, I went to check a brachial pulse on him and his arm was stiff and rigid and cold. All of his extremities were cold. His little feet were cold.
His hands were clenched in a fist and he wasn’t breathing. And his his clothes were like crusty. He had clothes on. His the clothes that was on his chest was crusty. He had a blanket that was draped over him that was wet. And when I I uh when I brushed up against that, when I touched that, it was there were bugs that flew from that.
The child’s mother, 21-year-old Cheyenne Harris, looked like an angel, blonde hair, delicate facial features, soft voice. No one could imagine what kind of monster lurked behind this lovely exterior. Zachary Keane, 29, is the caring father of 2-year-old Nala. What the two monsters did was agonizing to anyone who hoped to save their 4mon-old baby boy, but not them.
Friends, take a second to like, subscribe, and leave a comment with your city and time. Your participation will help this important information reach those who need it most. In the apartment on Hilltop Avenue in Alta Vista, Iowa, two worlds existed. In one world, 2-year-old Nala was the center of the universe.
She was fed, played with, bought toys. Zachary called her his princess. In another world, just a few feet away from the happy nursery. In another room, 4-month-old Sterling was slowly dying. Zachary and Cheyenne lived in a toxic cycle. passionate encounters, using illegal substances together, attempts to get clean from addiction, inevitable relapses.
When Nala was born in 2015, Zachary fell in love with his daughter at first sight and became an exemplary father. Sterling, however, was the result of another cycle of self-destruction. conceived while using illegal substances. Born in a bathtub during a loud party on May 1st, 2017. From his first breath, he was unwanted.
Zachary worked as a truck driver making $35,000 a year, enough for a family of four, but the money went to feed their addiction. A silent division of responsibilities was established in the house. Zachary took care of Nala, fed her, played with her, put her to bed. Cheyenne was supposed to care for the baby, but her care consisted of complete neglect.
In July 2017, when Sterling was 2 months old, Jennifer Shrivever, a mother of four children, wholeheartedly offered to help Cheyenne as a babysitter. What she saw shocked her. The baby was unusually small and light with severe diaper rash. During a thunderstorm, Cheyenne left him alone in the apartment for half an hour, the first warning sign.
Shrivever babysat twice, 17 and 16 hours. Those days became the happiest in Sterling’s life. She fed him every 2 hours, and the baby ate like a champion, hungrily, desperately. Shrivever treated his diaper rash, changed his diapers, talked to him. By the end of the first day, Sterling came to life. By the second visit, he had gained weight.
For the first time in his life, he received human care. Unfortunately, there was no third visit. By the end of summer 2017, life in the apartment had taken on an established rhythm of horror. Zachary worked nights, slept during the day. Cheyenne spent time with Nala or used illegal substances. She put the baby’s swing in the corner of the room and turned it to face the wall.
Jordan Clark, a family acquaintance, regularly came over to use illegal substances. He spent several hours in the apartment, but didn’t even suspect the baby existed. To everyone, Sterling was invisible. The baby’s condition rapidly deteriorated. His weight dropped from a normal 1315 lb to a critical 7 lb. His height a pitiful 14 in.
His diaper hadn’t been changed in the last 14 days. There were new diapers and baby food in the apartment, but no one used them for sterling. In the last days of August, the feces began to decompose, attracting flies. The insects laid eggs on the living baby from which the maggots hatched and crawled all over the baby.
The diaper rash had eaten through the skin to the flesh. Bacteria entered his bloodstream. Sepsis began. Zachary would enter the room, see his son’s condition, but simply leave, unable to bear the smell. In the next room, Nala received food and care. Just a few feet away, her brother was dying alone.
August 30th, 2017. At 100 p.m., Zachary called 911. S County 911 ambulance sent out here to my apartment. Okay. What’s your address, Zach? 107 South Hilltop Avenue in Alpha Vista. Okay. What’s going on? Uh around 9:00, my girlfriend went to uh feed our son and then about 11 or or 11:30 to check on him and he was gone.
Gone meaning. He died. Okay. He’s like probably four months. I don’t know if it’s sudden death syndrome or what. Okay. So, you live at 107 South Hilltop in 8 in Alta Vista? What at um apartment 7? Apartment 7. Okay. And your son is 4 months old. And the last time they that you was checked on was nine? No, it was he fed him at 9.
Okay. and uh she hadn’t heard uh she went to check on her I hadn’t heard her cry or whatever and probably about 11:30 11:40 she went to check on he he passed away every word is a lie Sterling wasn’t checked at 9 or at 11:00 he hadn’t been checked in weeks this isn’t sudden infant death syndrome this is murder 2 miles that’s how far Nurse Tony Friedrich had to travel to reach the apartment.
She expected a tragic Sid’s case. Instead, she walked into a house of horrors. At the entrance, she was met by Zachary, Cheyenne, and 2-year-old Nala. No emotions, no tears, just a cold inside, a dark, stuffy room, covered windows, a baby swing in the corner, turned toward the wall, and the smell, the nauseating smell of decay and urine.
What Tony saw in that swing forever changed her understanding of human cruelty. A tiny body weighing seven pounds, half the normal weight, skin covered with crust, maggots crawling on the dead infant’s clothes. Sterling died the same way he had lived his final weeks, alone, facing an empty wall, forgotten by his own parents.
Other first responders who arrived at the scene were shocked not only by the child’s condition, but by the parents reaction. Complete indifference, no tears, no hysteria, no attempts to explain what happened. In the next room, investigators found a healthy, well-fed 2-year-old Nala. She was dressed in a fancy dress, appropriate for a grand celebration.
The refrigerator was full of food. The cabinets held new diapers and cans of baby formula. The parents had everything necessary to save Sterling. They simply chose his death. August 31st, Iowa’s chief medical examiner conducts the autopsy. What he finds exceeds the most horrific expectations. Two months of investigation, dozens of witnesses, medical conclusions that leave no doubt.
Testimony from neighbors, relatives, acquaintances, everything adds up to a picture of systematic neglect and cruelty. In October 2017, arrest warrants are issued. Zachary Keane and Cheyenne Harris are charged with firstdegree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. Television broadcasts show a beautiful young woman with wide bewildered eyes as if she doesn’t understand what’s happening.
Blonde hair disheveled face pale with shock and a man avoiding the camera’s gaze. An ordinary couple from a small town who could have been your neighbors. It seems like a monstrous mistake has occurred and police have arrested the wrong people. But the trial will shatter that illusion to pieces. The truth that will be revealed in the courtroom will shock even seasoned investigators and make jurors look away from crime scene photographs.
November 2018 and February 2019, two separate trials, but one horrifying story. First, Zachary Keen faced trial in Henry County, then Bashanne Harris in Plymouth County. Both trials were moved from Chickasaw County due to intense community reaction. The same witnesses testified in both trials, telling the same heartbreaking story.
Each time their testimony sounded like a condemnation of two people who should have loved and protected Sterling more than anyone else in the world. First called was Tony Friedrich, the nurse who was the first responder to arrive at the scene. Her testimony left the courtroom in shock. I got out my car and I went running up to them and said, “Where’s the baby?” Uh, I didn’t nobody was showing any emotion and and the man goes inside and I said, “Show me.
” And so he took me inside. We walked in and we went to the we went to the back bedroom. He took me to the back bedroom and it was dark and it was stuffy and there was a stench of urine there. I was looking for a crib. I couldn’t see a crib. I said, “Where’s the baby?” and he said in the swing and I and it was dark.
I said, “We’ve got to get some lights on in here. Turn the lights on.” And he flipped the switch and the lights came on. And as he was and he walked away and he muttered something and I don’t know what he muttered. What did you see when the lights came on? Well, you could see the the um swing. It was facing an outside wall in the corner.
And so then I um went over so I could see Sterling, the baby. That’s found out that’s what his name was. And to to do my assessment, look, listen, and feel. Um, his eyes were fixed and dilated, staring straight out. Um, uh, he had blood around his mouth and, uh, I went to check a brachial pulse on him and his arm was stiff and rigid and cold.
All of his extremities were cold. His little feet were cold. His hands were clenched in a fist. and he wasn’t breathing and his his clothes were like crusty. When you saw when you saw Sterling, did you know that there was nothing you could do? Yeah, there’s, you know, there’s there’s no CPR.
It’s, you know, it just wasn’t right. Was he in clothing or blankets? He had clothes on. His the clothes that was on his chest was crusty. He had a blanket that was draped over him that was wet. And when I I uh when I brushed up against that, when I touched that, it was there were bugs that flew from that. When you say buds, what did they look like to you? Just little gnats, little Yeah.
How big was this room? It was It was a small room. Um, and you said that the swing was in the far corner facing the outside wall. Correct. So, when you first walked in the room, could you see Sterling at all? No, you were just seeing the back of the swing after he turned the lights on.
Yes, cuz I was looking for a crib or Yeah. Did the room have windows in it? There was blankets over the one window that was in there so that there wasn’t It didn’t show any light. What did the room feel like? It was hot. It was stuffy. There was the stench of urine. What did you do? Well, after I after I did my assessment and realized that I couldn’t do anything, I called back into the sheriff’s department and asked for the sheriff to come and another medical examiner.
Jennifer Shrivever, the woman who twice saved Sterling from his parents, gave heart-wrenching testimony. Jordan Clark, a family acquaintance, gave testimony that revealed shocking details about the family’s life and how invisible Sterling was even to outsiders. And is the only location in that apartment where you smoke the methamphetamine in the bedroom shared by the defendant and Mr. Con? Yes.
Where was Nala when you were using the uh usually she was running her or playing out in the living room or just a few feet away? Yes. When you were in that apartment, did you know there was a baby in that apartment? No. Did you ever see the door to that back bedroom open where the were the not the parents’ bedroom, but the other door? Not that I can recall.
When you were at that apartment, did Miss Harris ever mention that there was a baby in that apartment? Not that I recall 100%. Did you ever see a baby in that apartment? No. Death on August 30th, 2017. Did you have any type of romantic relationship with the defendant Cheyenne Harris? No. After Sterling died, did you develop a relationship with her? Yes.
How did that happen? Just from texting back and forth kind of. One thing led to another. When did it happen? Probably midepptember. And was Miss Harris still together with Mr. Con? I believe so. Yes. Did you meet up with Cheyenne and have sex with her? Yes. More than once? Yes. Did Mr.
Cohen know about it? After the fact, yes, I believe so. Did she make efforts to hide it from him before he found out? I think so. Yes. Deputy Sheriff Jason Rassel described what investigators found when they searched the apartment. I have four children. Um, age ranges from 13 to 13 years old to a 2-year-old, which was about the same age as Sterling at that time.
A little bit older. So, your child would have been approximately 4 months old at uh the time of this incident back in August of 2017. Yes, just a little bit older, I believe, a month or two. And you had the very same swing for your infant child that was in the room that you entered at that apartment complex. Yes.
That’s how I knew that the bouncy chair and the swing were set. Now, you said the the swing was in the on position. Was it moving? It was not moving. Um, was the mobile moving? No, it was not. Was it playing any music? No, it was not. So, it’s possible for that sing swing to be on and nothing happening as far as movement or or music. Correct.
Correct. Uh, did you see Sterling laying in the seat? Yes, I did. What What did you first noticed when you saw him? The first thing I noticed is that his eyes were open and uh he had blue eyes, bright blue eyes. Um, his head was tilted um I believe to the left is what I put in my report.
Um and and uh and again when I was down at his level, the smell of urine was so bad that at times I had to hold my breath. What do you mean? You couldn’t It was so that the ammonia smelled so bad that you had to hold your breath at times and walk out of the bedroom. And when did you first notice that that it got really bad? when I got down by the down by the um swing down by Sterling and then uh um I moved a blanket and um then I could really notice it.
Were you within arm distance of Sterling when you noticed that overpowered snow? Yes. So you noticed that his eyes were open and his head was tilted to the left. Correct. Correct. Um, how about the size of building? Did you know anything about his size? Originally, I thought maybe there was a mixup by our dispatcher because it was called in as a 4-month-old and he did not look like a four-month-old.
He looked more like a newborn. What do you mean? He was very small in size um skinny um and um just did not look like a like my fourmonth-old did at that time. Dr. Dennis Klene, the state’s chief medical examiner, approached the witness stand what he would tell the court would make even experienced court workers shudder.
I’d like to talk about Sterling Colin. Yes. You performed an autopsy on him on August 31st, 2017. Correct. That’s correct. How was it that you became involved in the case? Um, there are four pathologists in my office and we each uh have a schedule of days that we do autopsy. So, the day that the autopsy was scheduled for Sterling was the day that I was on call to do cases.
And where was the autopsy performed? at our facility uh which is located in Ankeny Iowa which is about 10 miles north of De Moine. That when you do an autopsy what types of questions are you trying to answer? There are a number of different questions. The two biggest questions that we’re asked to answer is what is the cause of death and what is the manner of death? What does cause of death mean? So cause of death uh is defined as the uh disease, the injury, the abnormality or poisoning that initiates or starts a
series of dysfunctions in the body that ultimately leads to death. So if I am uh shot in the head, what would my cause of death be? It would be gunshot wound of head. What does manner of death mean? So matter of death is a category of death uh where a medical examiner uh uses their medical judgment gathering information uh about the deedent and placing them in one of five major categories.
And those categories include natural, accident, suicide, homicide, and undetermined. and tell us what the differences between those are. So natural is when a person’s uh death is totally due to natural diseases. Uh an accident is when uh a death occurs in which there is some uh event that happens within the environment but there’s no intent or purposeful action either by themselves or other people to result in their death.
Uh suicide is when uh someone takes actions intentionally to cause their own death. Homicide is when another person uh does uh some action that results in another person’s death. So they die at the hands of another person. And then undetermined is when there is not enough information in order to uh determine with any degree of certainty one particular category over the other.
And then it’s left is undetermined. Do you have a an opinion in this case as to the cause of death of Sterling Cohen? Yes. What is that? Denial of critical care. Do you have an opinion as to the manner of death of Sterling Cohen? Yes. What is that? Homicide. The verdicts came swiftly and without mercy.
In November 2018, a Henry County jury found Zachary Keane guilty of firstdegree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. The judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the mandatory sentence for firstdegree murder in Iowa. In February 2019, a Plymouth County jury delivered the same verdict for Cheyenne Harris.
She too received life without parole. Both defendants declined to make any statement before sentencing, showing no remorse, no apology, no explanation for their unthinkable cruelty. Their appeals for new trials were denied. Sterling Daniel Keane lived for 121 days. Most of that time was spent in suffering that no human being should ever endure.
His story became a symbol of the ultimate betrayal when those meant to protect the most vulnerable instead become their destroyers. Rest in peace, Little Angel Sterling. I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who watched this video all the way through. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this case in the comments, and please don’t forget to subscribe to my channel.
I’d also like to send a special thank you to everyone who has donated to support my channel. Your support means the world to me and gives me the motivation to keep making new and interesting investigations for you, my wonderful viewers. Thank you all so much.
