Texas Toddler’s Cold and Stiff Body was Bundled with Trash: Detective

New details shared by the police in Dallas show that the “cold and stiff” body of Sherin Mathews was bundled at the back of the car with a bag of trash by her adoptive father before the body was put in a culvert by him. The information was revealed during the custody hearing of Wesley and Sini Mathews’ 4-year-old biological daughter on Dec. 5.

According to the testimony given by Richardson police detective Jules Farmer, Wesley, 37, said that he forced Sherin to drink milk from a bottle while she was in the garage and she was standing up when she choked.

Farmer said that he then questioned Wesley on how she could have choked while standing up. Wesley told the detective that Sherin stopped breathing. He did not call the emergency number 911 or sought help from his wife Sini, who is a nurse by profession. Wesley confessed to moving the toddler’s body to the culvert near their home, after turning off the location tracking on his phone.

“He put Sherin in the back of the car with a sack of trash and went to a shopping center nearby. He disposed of the trash (at the shopping center), and then drove around a little more until he put Sherin in the culvert where we found her body,” Farmer was quoted as saying by the media.

The judge who presided over the custody hearing denied access to Wesley and Sini to their biological daughter, saying they are not fit to be parents given what happened to Sherin. The couple’s biological daughter is currently living with relatives in Houston.

Sini and Wesley are in detention at the Dallas County Jail. They attended the Dec. 5 hearing.

Dallas authorities are still waiting for the autopsy report.

Dr Suzanne Dakil from Referral and Evaluation of At Risk Children Clinic, had testified during a custody hearing on Nov. 29, saying that Sherin’s body had broken bones and injuries in various stages of healing when she was alive. According to Dakil, Sherin’s legs were fractured and the injuries occurred after her arrival in the United States. Sini had told Dakil then that Sherin had brittle bones as a result of the poor diet she had in India.

Wesley has been charged with felony injury to a child. His bond has been placed at $1 million, and he faces life imprisonment if convicted of the first-degree felony. Sini, 35, was charged with child endangerment and faces up to two years in a state jail if convicted of child abandonment or endangerment. Her bond is set at $100,000.