RIVERSIDE, Iowa — An eastern Iowa couple was arrested Thursday by the Washington County Sheriff on charges of child endangerment resulting in death in connection with the death last November of their 17-month-old daughter.
The child who was found to weigh 11 pounds at the time of death.
Ambrashia Marie Chrzan, 29, and Anthony Lamont McCoy, 36, of Riverside were taken into custody after a joint investigation by the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the Washington County Sheriff’s office, Washington County Attorney’s office, the Iowa Attorney General’s office and the Iowa Medical Examiner’s office.
On Nov. 9, 2016, at about 11 a.m., 17-month-old Avery Maxine McCoy was discovered unresponsive in her crib by Chrzan, the child’s mother. Chrzan and Anthony McCoy were identified by law enforcement as the biological parents and the sole caretakers responsible for the care and feeding of Avery McCoy.
An autopsy conducted at the University of Iowa Hospital’s Decedent Care Unit ruled the child’s death a homicide. The cause of death was undetermined, but malnutrition and neglect significantly contributed to her death, according to the pathologist’s report.
At the time of the autopsy, Avery McCoy weighed 11 pounds, which the pathologist concluded to be a state of malnutrition.
Chrzan and McCoy are currently held in the Washington County Jail. If convicted, both face up to 50 years confinement.
McCoy and Chrzan had 11 other children, according to the toddler’s November obituary, including one brother, Dakarai, who died before Avery.
