Indian-American father confesses to watching his adopted daughter Sherin choke on milk

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Wesley Mathews, father of the missing Indian-American toddler Sherin Mathews, was arrested on Tuesday, Oct. 24, after he admitted to police Monday that he had dumped the child’s body in an open drain, after he had watched Sherin choke on her milk while he “physically assisted” her.

Police told The Washington Post that “she was coughing and her breathing slowed. Eventually, Wesley Mathews no longer felt a pulse on the child and believed she had died” and then remSherin’s body from the house.

According to an NBC report, authorities used search dogs to find Sherin’s body, which was in an open drain near the Mathews’ home in Texas and the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that the body was Sherin’s using dental records, although cause of death is still pending.

Wesley had previously claimed that Sherin, his adopted daughter, went missing on Oct. 7 at 3 a.m. after he had punished her for not drinking her milk and sent her out alone into an alle; That when he checked up on her 15 minutes later, she was gone. He also said he then went back into the house to do some laundry hoping that she would come back but when she didn’t return five hours later, he reported her missing at 8 a.m.

Authorities then began searching for the 22-pound girl who was last seen wearing a pink top, black pajama bottoms and pink flip-flops, by searching the Mathews house midweek and subsequently announced that someone left in the family’s sport-utility vehicle about 4 a.m. on the day she disappeared and returned home within the hour.

Wesley was arrested on child abandonment and endangerment charges but was released on bail and forced to wear an ankle monitor along with having his passport confiscated; while Sherin’s mother, Sini was not arrested because she was asleep during the incident and had cooperated with authorities in trying to help identify Sherin’s body.

On Monday night when authorities said they had “most likely” found the girl’s body using search dogs, Wesley came to the Richardson Police Station with his attorney and asked to speak with detectives, news reports said. The new details contained in an affidavit quoted by The Washington Post, reveal Wesley will be charged with first-degree felony, which carries a maximum sentence of ife in prison; He is currently being held on a $1 million bond, the report said.

The Washington Post also reported that the Mathews’ attended a court hearing earlier in the day on Monday to determine whether they could regain custody of their biological daughter since she had been taken into custody by Child Protective Services and placed in foster care after Sherin was reported missing.

Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for CPS told the Associated Press that the judge postponed the hearing until Nov. 13 to give Mathews time to hire a civil attorney. However, Gonzales added, “we do have the names of some relatives who have expressed interest in taking care of her and we can begin looking into those relatives, but it is entirely up to the judge where she is placed.”

Mathews and his wife adopted Sherin about two years ago from an orphanage in India. Mathews told police that Sherin was malnourished and had to be on a special diet to gain weight.