Two days after the discovery of a child’s body in a culvert in Richardson, Texas, the police on Tuesday confirmed that it was indeed of the missing three-year-old Indian-American Sherin Mathews, who had been adopted by her NRI foster parents from an orphanage in Bihar two years ago.
Even before completion of the identification process, the police on Monday arrested Sheryn’s adoptive father, Wesley Mathews, and charged with causing “Injury to a Child”, a first-degree felony punishable by life or from five to 99 years in prison. The arrest came about after the 37-year-old Mathews admitted to police that he “dumped” the toddler’s body near his home after she choked on her milk while he “physically assisted” her.
Mathews, who was originally arrested on October 7 and let off on a bond of $2,50,000 a day later, is now being held in the Richardson Central Jail, with his new bond set at $1 million.
Richardson police officials said on Tuesday that the Dallas Medical Examiner’s Office used dental records to confirm the identity of the body that was found in the culvert on Sunday. Her cause of death has not been determined yet and police have not said whether or not they suspect foul play, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Mathews voluntarily went to the police on Monday, along with his attorney, and offered a new account of what happened the night of October 7.
Citing an arrest warrant affidavit, Fox News reported that Mathews told police that he and the girl were in the house’s garage when she refused to drink her milk. She allegedly wouldn’t listen. She then began drinking and the father stepped in to “physically assisted” her drinking the liquid. Sherin began choking, coughing and breathing slowly at some point, according to the affidavit.
Mathews told the police that he couldn’t feel a pulse on his daughter and believed she died. He then said he removed the toddler’s body from the house.
In his earlier version, Mathews had told the police he ordered her to stand next to a tree behind the fence of their Dallas suburb home about 3 a.m. because she refused to drink her milk. He then said she was nowhere to be seen after he went to check up on her 15 minutes later.
Mathews reported the child’s disappearance to the police after a gap of five hours. He was initially arrested and charged with child endangerment, but was released on bond and ordered to wear an ankle monitor.