WARREN COUNTY, Iowa -- A sentencing hearing has been set for Megan Staude who entered a plea deal of second-degree murder for killing her newborn baby in 2023.

In 2023, a newborn's remains were found on the side of the road outside Norwalk. The mother of the baby, Megan Staude, and her father, Rodney Staude, were later arrested on first-degree murder charges.

Investigators say Megan admitted to putting the child in a box and not caring for him for two days, then later putting the child, who was allegedly still alive, in a trash bag and leaving him in a ditch.

Megan plead guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder in July 2024 with a sentencing date to be set at a later time.

According to court documents, Megan's hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 22, 2025. The charge for secon

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