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Charges dropped against mother of slain child Sherin Mathews

NRI Pulse Staff Report

Atlanta, GA, March 1, 2019: The mother of Sherin Mathews, a three-year-old Indian girl who was found dead in a ditch last year in Richardson, Texas, is free after spending 15 months behind bars awaiting trial. Charges of child endangerment were dropped Friday by prosecutors, according to media reports.

Sini Mathews’ faced between two to 20 years in prison. Her trial was expected to begin next month.

NBC Dallas reports that in a letter to the 282nd Criminal District Court, the Dallas County DA wrote that “after extensive investigation it has been determined that the state cannot prove this matter beyond a reasonable doubt at this time.” And that “the state respectfully requests that this case be dismissed without prejudice.”

Mathews had been charged with child endangerment after prosecutors said she and her husband Wesley Mathews left the child home alone while they went to dinner on October 6, 2017 the night before she was reported missing by her foster father.

Wesley Mathews, is charged with capital murder in connection with her death.

At the time of her arrest, Richardson police had said detectives learned Sini and Wesley Mathews took their 3-year-old biological daughter to dinner and left their adopted daughter, Sherin, alone at home, placing her in “imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental impairment”.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, detectives used cellphone records to show that the couple went to a North Garland restaurant on the evening of October 6. A receipt obtained by police showed the couple purchased only one child’s meal in addition to their individual meals, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported.

Wesley Mathews told detectives in an interview on October 23 that he and his wife had left Sherin Mathews at home while the rest of the family went out. He said he left the child after growing frustrated when she refused to drink her milk.

Police said they have not determined whether the girl was alive when the couple returned home an hour and a half later, the Dallas Morning News reported. An affidavit said the toddler was in the kitchen where they left her.

Wesley initially said he sent Sherin Mathews outside to an alley near their house about 3 a.m. because she refused to drink her milk.

However, later he said that he “physically assisted” her with drinking milk in the garage of their house. The child began coughing and choking, her breathing slowed and then there was no longer any pulse. He admitted to removing the body from the house.

Sherin Mathews’ body was found in the culvert under a road about one mile from her home in suburban Dallas on October 22. Her parents adopted her in June 2016 from Bihar.

Sini Mathews said she was sleeping when Sherin disappeared and was unaware of what took place overnight. Her attorney maintained throughout the investigation that she had nothing to do with her daughter’s death and that she was distraught.

The couple’s surviving child was put in foster care shortly after her sister’s disappearance.

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