Mother, Grandfather Who Left Infant to Die in a Trash Bag Get 50-Year Sentences for Murder

Norwalk mother and grandfather sentenced to 50 years in prison for roles in 2023 killing of infant

"We will never know the person that your son could have grown up to be," the judge said as he sentenced both Megan and Rodney Staude.

Mother, grandfather who left infant to die in a trash bag get 50-year sentences for murder

Megan Staude of Norwalk and her father, Rodney, abandoned a days-old infant in a roadside ditch in early 2023.

Mother, grandfather sentenced for murdering infant found tossed in ditch

INDIANOLA, Iowa (Court TV) — An Iowa woman and her father were both sentenced to decades in prison for murdering a newborn, tossing it in a trash bag and discarding it in a ditch. Rodney Staude appears in court on Sept. 22, 2025. (Court TV) Megan Staude, 28, and her father, Rodney Staude, 67, each pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the death of Megan’s newborn son in February 2023. Megan entered her plea in July 2024, and Rod…

Norwalk woman sentenced to prison for newborn son's death

WARREN COUNTY, Iowa -- A Norwalk woman charged in the death of her newborn son in 2023 was sentenced to prison on Monday. Megan Staude, 28, along with her father, Rodney Staude, 67, were arrested and charged after the body of a newborn was discovered in a ditch just south of Norwalk in 2023. According to court records, Megan told investigators that she had given birth to her son at their family home in Norwalk and had placed the baby in a box. A…

Iowa mother keeps newborn in box for 2 days, seals him alive in trash bag and dumps him in a ditch

An Iowa woman convicted of killing her newborn son is set to face sentencing after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in a case that shocked the local community. Megan Staude, 28, of Norwalk, will appear in Warren County Courthouse in Indianola for her sentencing hearing, which was scheduled for September 22, 2025. The case came to light in March 2023 when the remains of a newborn baby were found in a ditch near Norwalk. Police began invest…