Iowa Court of Appeals rejects Plymouth woman’s appeal on child endangerment resulting in death & serious injury convictions

DES MOINES — A Plymouth woman sentenced to 50 years in prison for child endangerment resulting in death and child endangerment resulting in serious injury has lost an appeal of her case in the Iowa Court of Appeals.

31-year-old Allyssa Larsen, formerly known as Allyssa Luke and Allyssa Joyce, was convicted by a Cerro Gordo County jury in February 2024 of the two charges. She was accused of knowingly creating substantial risk to a pair of three-month old children by deprivation of proper nutrition. That resulted in late February 2021 in the death of one of the children, while the other child was near death.

Larsen in her appeal challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting her convictions, and also contended that the district court abused its discretion by denying her motion for a new trial based on the weight of the evidence, improper statements made by the prosecutor during closing arguments, and the admission of cumulative and prejudicial autopsy photos.

The Iowa Court of Appeals in their ruling issued Wednesday rejected Larsen’s appeal, disagreeing with all of her claims.