Postville man charged in death of infant daughter

A Postville man has been charged in Fayette County with child endangerment resulting in death after his 4-month-old daughter died last fall.

According to a criminal complaint, Joshua Reuben Christen, 38, woke up Sept. 2, 2022, to find his daughter was unresponsive, lying face-down in the bed they both were sleeping in at a home in Elgin.

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and the Elgin Ambulance service responded to the scene. The child was transported to Palmer Hospital in West Union where she was pronounced dead, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

The cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation. But the autopsy also showed the child had methamphetamine in her system, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators from the sheriff’s office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation determined that Christen was under the influence of a narcotic while the child was in his care, according to the complaint.

“The defendant knowingly acted in a manor that created the death of his 4-month-old daughter by the means of asphyxiation,” the release states.

Christen had his first appearance in court Thursday, and is being held in the Fayette County Jail on a $25,000 bail.

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