Foster father Wesley Mathews tells police that Sherin choked on milk and died

New York: Police have charged the adoptive father of a three-year-old Indian girl, Sherin, in her death after he admitted that the child choked and died while he was making her drink milk in their home, in Texas, according to court documents.

Wesley Mon Mathews had earlier told police that Sherin disappeared when he made her stand in a lane behind their house in Richardson city at 3 am on October 7 as punishment for not drinking milk.

After nearly two weeks of searching by police using drones, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and volunteers, her body was found on Sunday in a ditch near their house in the city near Dallas. While the search was going on, Mathews stuck to the story about Sherin’s punishment and mysterious disappearance.

Mathews, who was arrested on Monday, was charged with causing injury to a child which carries a maximum penalty of life in



prison.

As of Tuesday evening, he was being held in jail with bail set at $1 million. Mathews, 37, who works in information technology, is of Indian origin. He and his wife, Sini who is a nurse, had adopted Sherin from an orphanage in Bihar.

Richardson police officer V Diaz said in court documents that on Monday Mathews came to the police with his lawyer and said that he “physically assisted” Sherin with drinking milk in the garage of their house after she had earlier refused to drink it.

The child began coughing and choking, her breathing slowed and then there was no longer any pulse, he told police.

He “believed” she had died and admitted to removing the body from the house, Diaz said.

Mathews did not wake his wife, who is a registered nurse at Dallas Children’s Medical Center, when that happened, the Dallas News reported.