Body Of Sherin Mathews Laid To Rest With Family In Attendance

RICHARDSON, TX — A private funeral ceremony was held Tuesday for Sherin Mathews, who went missing on Oct. 7. Sherin's mother, Sini Mathews, and other family members attended the service.

A statement from Sini Mathews' lawyers, Mitchell R. Nolte and Gregg Gibbs, said the service was conducted according to the religious beliefs and cultural heritage of the girl's family. The statement went on to say Sherin's burial location will remain secret because of concerns over personal security and threats of grave desecration.

"While they cannot express their gratitude to everyone personally, please know [Sherin's family members] do appreciate the outpouring of love for Sherin and thank everyone for their kindness and prayers," her lawyers wrote in the statement.

Sherin's father, Wesley Mathews, remains in Dallas County jail on a felony charge of injury to a child. Sini Mathews' biological daughter, 4, remains in foster care.

No charges have been filed against the child's mother at this time. Sergeant Kevin Perlich of the Richardson Police Department said he hopes to talk to her but has not been in contact with her since she helped identify the girl's body.

"We would want her to come in and talk to us if she would," he said. "We certainly have that invitation open to her to come in, but so far she has not come in to discuss anything about the details of what happened that night or to give us her version of what happened... Whether she comes in or not, we are going to move forward with this investigation."

In a statement dated Oct. 25, Sini Mathews' attorneys said she had been cooperating with police starting the day Sherin disappeared.

"Mrs. Mathews talked to the police at length that morning at her home, then went to the station that evening for further interviews," they wrote. "She voluntarily went back to the station a few days later, and was interrogated for hours by several officers with no attorney present."

They wrote there is no need for her to endure further investigation, and claimed that she had no hand in Sherin's death.

"Now that Mr. Mathews has turned himself into the police and told them what happened to Sherin, we see no need for Mrs. Mathews to endure further police interrogation. She had nothing to do with Sherin's death or the removal of her body from the home."

Sherin's body was found Oct. 22 and later confirmed to belong to her. The Dallas County Medical Examiners Office confirmed the child's identify using dental records. A cause of death has not yet been announced, but the child's father was arrested in connection to her death.

In a probable cause affidavit related to the Monday arrest of Wesley Mathews, the father of the missing 3-year-old girl told police a new account of what happened the night she disappeared. According to the affidavit, Wesley Mathews, 37, told police he had been trying to get the 3-year-old girl to drink her milk in the garage of the home. He said the girl would not drink the milk, but eventually cooperated. He then "physically assisted" his daughter in drinking her milk, but she began to choke.

The report says she began coughing and that her breathing slowed. When the father no longer felt a pulse, he said he believed that she had died. He admitted to removing the body from the home. He was arrested Monday and has been accused of Injury to a Child, a first degree felony.

Sergeant Kevin Perlich of the Richardson Police Department said he cannot at this time disclose where Wesley Mathews took the child's body, but he said that the statement has alleviated fears that the girl had been abducted or attacked by an animal or other predator.

"We can’t exactly say what he said and where he may have taken her, but we were told that he did remove her from the home," he said. "It was not that he had put her out by the tree or that an animal or some type of predator had gone out there and picked her up. We do know that when he removed her from the home, he believes she was deceased, and that was the reason he had taken her out and removed her."

Perlich said the father never sought medical attention while Sherin Mathews was choking on the milk, nor after she became unresponsive.

"What he has told us now is that she was drinking milk. She really didn’t want to drink that milk, so he was 'physically assisting' her with that milk — apparently to the point where she began to choke on that milk. [She] lost consciousness and eventually expired. During that period of time, Mr. Mathews never sought medical attention or to call 911. That’s why you’re lookin at the type of charge that we have right now."

The charge, he said, carries the same penalty as a charge of murder. The charges can be changed and additional arrests can be made if more information emerges during the investigation.

"This charge is based upon what we have been told so far in this investigation... So, you may see some changes in those charges, and you may see an additional arrest. But it really depends on what the investigators are able to uncover moving forward."

The charges against the father are punishable by a life sentence or from 5 to 99 years in prison. According to Richardson Police, Wesley Mathews voluntarily arrived at the police station Monday afternoon and, with his attorney, gave police the alternate statement of events from that which he previously gave.

Wesley Mathews is being held in the Dallas County jail. His bond has been set at $1 million. Wesley Mathews and his wife, Sini Mathews, appeared at a custody hearing on Oct. 23, but the hearing was rescheduled to Nov. 13.

Images via Richardson Police.