The lifeless body of Richardson, Texas, girl Sherin Mathews was found in a drain under a road near her home several months ago. On Wednesday, an autopsy revealed the 3-year-old’s death was due to homicide.
The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed Sherin died of “homicidal violence,” according to NBC 5 Dallas . The news came via a statement released by the Richardson Police Department.
Mitch Nolte, the attorney for Sherin’s adoptive mother , Sini Mathews, told WFAA Dallas the autopsy report does not implicate his client in the little girl’s death.
Both of Sherin’s adoptive parents, Sini and Wesley Mathews, are jailed in connection with Sherin’s case. Just weeks ago, a judge denied the couple access to their biological daughter, who was removed from the home by Child Protective Services shortly after the investigation into Sherin’s disappearance began.
The custody hearing ruling was due in part to the testimony given by a physician who testified she worried Sherin had been injured by her parents and reported her concerns to CPS.
Sherin’s lifeless body was found by a cadaver dog on Sunday, October 22, in a culvert not far from her family’s home. Wesley was arrested the next day and charged with Injury to a Child, a first-degree felony for which he could face five to 99 years behind bars if convicted. He is being held on $1,000,000 bond.
Sini is charged with child endangerment and is being held on a $100,000 bond. She is accused of leaving Sherin, 3, alone at home while she and her husband, Wesley, went out to dinner with their biological daughter. The outing reportedly took place on October 6, the night before Sherin was reported missing , according to the Dallas Morning News .
AUTOPSY: Slain tot Sherin Mathews died from ‘homicidal violence’, dad claims she choked on milk https://t.co/dSjW1SUz3p
— Nancy Grace (@NancyGrace) January 3, 2018
Wesley told police on October 23 that Sherin was left at home because she wouldn’t drink her milk and he became “impatient” with her, reports the Dallas Morning News . He said Sini agreed to leave Sherin behind and was not “coerced” into doing so. He told police when the family returned home about an hour later, Sherin was still in the kitchen.
Report: 3-year-old Sherin Mathews died from homicidal violence https://t.co/cB87CupNjZ
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) January 4, 2018
An arrest affidavit for Wesley states he told police that on October 7, he and Sherin were in the garage of the family home where he was trying to get her to drink milk, which she ultimately did. He said he then “physically assisted” her as she drank, subsequently observing that she was choking, coughing, and breathing slowly. Wesley stated that “eventually” he couldn’t feel a pulse on Sherin and believed the little girl was dead. He also admitted moving her body from the family home.
Sherin was adopted by the Mathews in the summer of 2016 from India.
