The juvenile went missing on October 7. The police found Sherin Mathews body in a culvert on October 22 and on October 23 her adopted father admitted to watching her choke to death in their home in Texas.
Sherin Mathews, who was found dead in a culvert about one mile from her home, was laid to rest on Tuesday. Reportedly, the location of the burial site has not been revealed.
“Because of the intense press and social media attention in this case, the family chose to keep the ceremony private so that the focus could be on Sherin’s future in Heaven and not on her tragic death on Earth,” the family attorneys, Mitchell R. Nolte and Gregg Gibbs said, The Pioneer reported.
According to the police arrest warrant, the girl choked to death while her father insisted and physically assisted the child to drink milk. Mathews admitted to his crime after the police located the dead body. On October 23, Mathews and his attorney visited the Richardson Police Department to request an interview.
“Wesley Mathews advised to Detective Diaz [Richardson police officer] he had been trying to get the 3 year old girl to drink her milk in the garage. Wesley Mathews said she wouldn’t listen to him. Eventually the 3 year old girl began to drink the milk,” the police arrest warrant read. “Wesley Mathews then physically assisted the 3 year old girl in drinking the milk. The 3 year old girl began to choke. She was coughing and her breathing slowed. Eventually, Wesley Mathews no longer felt a pulse on the child and believed she had died.”
Mathews also admitted to removing the body from his house. He has been charged with the criminal offense of Injury to Child.
The 3-year-old girl from Texas went missing on October 7. Her adopted father, Wesley Mathews, had told police that he had made the girl stand in the back lane of their house at 3 a.m. as a punishment for not drinking milk. Mathews said when he went to check after 15 minutes, she was missing.
The Richardson Police Department immediately started a search operation. The Child Protective Services also took the custody of Wesley Mathews and Siri Mathews 4-year-old biological daughter. After two weeks, on October 22, the juvenile’s body was found in a culvert at Spring Valley Road and Browser Road; and the police confirmed that the body was Sherin’s.
Upon investigation, Mathews changed his previous statement given to the police and said he watched the girl die as she choked while drinking milk in their home in Texas.
Mathews is in Dallas County jail on a $1 million bond and charged with felony injury to a child.