Indian child missing in US: Father now tells police he moved her body after she choked on her milk
Wesley Mathews had earlier told the police his daughter went missing after he told her to stand outside their house at 3 am for not drinking her milk.
The father of the three-year-old Indian girl who disappeared on October 7 has changed his story and told the Texas Police that he saw her choking on milk and dying, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Wesley Mathews also admitted to moving the child, Sherin’s, body from their home.
Earlier, Mathews had told the police that his daughter went missing after he told her to stand outside their house at 3 am as a punishment for not drinking her milk. A child’s body was found in a culvert close to Mathews’ home on Sunday. A day later, it was identified as Sherin’s body.
Mathews, 37, changed his story during a meeting with his attorney and investigators on Monday, BBC reported. He told them that he was with Sherin, who was born in India and adopted by the family, in the garage trying to get her to drink her milk. At first, she didn’t listen, but eventually complied with Wesley’s help.
“She then began to choke,” read Wesley’s affidavit. “She was coughing and her breathing slowed. Eventually, Mathews no longer felt a pulse on the child and believed she had died.”
Mathews is being held for causing felony injury to a child, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
He was earlier arrested for suspected child endangerment and later released on a bond. On Monday, he was arrested again after the police said he gave new answers to their questions about Sherin’s disappearance.
Mathews and his wife have a four-year-old biological daughter, who has now been placed under foster care.
Sergeant Kevin Perlich from the Richardson Police Department told Reuters there were many unanswered questions still, including why Mathews was in the garage to make the child drink her milk. According to the police, Mathews said the girl was malnourished when he and his wife adopted her. They had to put her on a special diet that included feeding her whenever she was awake, AP reported.