Photo by Sam McIntosh
A Riverside man was sentenced to time in prison on child endangerment and drug related charges.
At Friday’s sentencing District Court Judge Joel Yates found 37-year-old Anthony McCoy guilty of two counts of child endangerment, both aggravated misdemeanors, and one count of involuntary manslaughter, a class D felony, related to the death of his 17-month-old daughter Avery McCoy.
While on the witness stand McCoy stated that he loves his kids and he took responsibility for not getting Avery to appointments at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He stated that he thinks Avery’s mother Ambrashia Chrzan murdered Avery, “The reason why I think that she was murdered by her mom is because of the two contusions on her face, and the one on the back of her neck wasn’t there that day. When they found them on her in the autopsy that I found out.”
McCoy has been ordered to serve two years in prison for each child endangerment count and a term not to exceed five years for involuntary manslaughter, for a total term of nine years at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Oakdale. McCoy is responsible for all court costs, he must pay a $625 fine for each of the first two counts and $750 for the third, and he must also pay his share of $150,000 for victim restitution to Avery’s heirs, who are yet to be determined. McCoy pled guilty to the three counts on May 31st. Chrzan was sentenced to serve a term of up to 50 years in prison for child endangerment resulting in the death of Avery.
A hearing was also held regarding a violation of McCoy’s probation on a class D drug related offense that occurred on November 20, 2015. McCoy was originally sentenced to five years in prison but then received a suspended sentence for five years of supervised probation. The state filed a probation violation complaint on November 28, 2017, and McCoy admitted guilt to the violation. Judge Yates ordered that McCoy serve his suspended prison sentence consecutively to the time served for the other offenses. McCoy will be given credit for time served in his probation.