Crime
Texas Father Allegedly Used ‘Deadly Weapon’ to Kill Sherin Mathews
Wesley Mathews
Richardson Police Department
Wesley Mathews is facing either death penalty or life sentence for the alleged murder of his 3-year-old adoptive daughter.
Wesley Mathews, the adoptive father of deceased 3-year-old Sherin Mathews, used a deadly weapon to commit the crime, the indictment said. “During the commission of the offense, defendant did use a deadly weapon, the exact nature and description of which is not known to the Grand Jury,” the indictment by the grand jury said on Jan. 12, according to the Dallas County, Texas, Court.
The indictment also states that Mathews “did intentionally and knowingly cause the death of Sherin Mathews” on or around Oct. 7, 2017, in a manner and means unknown to the Grand Jury.
On Jan. 12, he was charged for capital murder.
He was earlier charged with causing injury to a child. Faith Johnson, Dallas County District Attorney, had said that the capital murder charge is punishable by life sentence or death penalty.
“We can’t go into details, but based on that autopsy report, we were able to determine that we can seek capital murder for this case,” Johnson had said. Wesley is also facing charges for abandoning a child and evidence tampering.
BREAKING: Wesley Mathews, father of Sherin Mathews has been indicted by a Dallas County Grand Jury for Capital Murder and Tampering with Evidence. #NBCDFWNow pic.twitter.com/oGuJ05vg91
— Don Peritz Jr. (@DonPeritzNBC5) January 12, 2018
Screenshot showing the indictments filed on Wesley Mathews, the adopted father of Sherin Mathews. pic.twitter.com/3v14h5EwDi
— Tanya Eiserer (@tanyaeiserer) January 12, 2018
Sherin was found dead in a culvert in Richardson, Texas, after her parents had reported her missing. Initially, Wesley said that Sherin was made to stand outside in the middle of the night since she wasn’t drinking her milk, and he later changed his statement to say that she choked to death.
However, autopsy reports revealed that she had injuries in various stages of healing on her body and died of homicidal violence.
The investigators did not mention if they found the weapon used to murder her.
If sentenced to death penalty, Wesley Mathews would be the second Indian American to be given the capital punishment in the United States. Raghunandan Yandamuri is facing death penalty for killing a woman and her granddaughter in a botched kidnapping incident in Pennsylvania. However, due to the moratorium on death penalties in the state his death sentence may be deferred.
