Father Of Deceased Richardson Child On Suicide Watch In Jail
DALLAS (CBS11) - The Richardson father who confessed to disposing of his daughter's body after he says she choked on milk is now on suicide watch at the Dallas County Jail.
Around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Wesley Mathews arrived at the jail in Dallas from Richardson.
A spokeswoman for the jail said he underwent a mental health evaluation. His answers "raised red flags." Combined with the high-profile nature of his case, she says a decision was made to place him on suicide watch.
During that time, he will be in a single-person cell, isolated from other inmates and under constant surveillance. The suicide watch will last 24 hours. Then, he will be re-evaluated by a psychiatrist.
Wesley Mathews is charged with a first degree felony charge of injury to a child.
After the discovery of Sherin's body, the 37-year-old dad gave police a second version of what happened to his daughter the day she disappeared.
In the latest version, Wesley told police he was in his garage with Sherin in the early morning hours of Oct. 7. He said he was trying to get her to drink milk. At some point, she began to choke and died. He admitted to disposing of the body. Police say he never called 911 for help.
In his original story, Wesley told police he left his 22-pound, three-year-old standing by a tree, alone at 3:00 a.m. He claimed it was punishment for not drinking her milk. When he returned 15 minutes later, she was gone.
Wesley said he looked for her, did laundry and waited until 8 a.m. to call police.
Sherin's official cause of death has yet to be released by the medical examiner's office.
Wesley Mathews' bond is set for $1 million.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the attorney for Sherin's mother, Sini Mathews released a statement about her cooperation with police during the investigation but is not willing "to endure further police interrogation."
The statement said Sini had nothing to do with Sherin's death or the removal of her body from their home.
Here is the complete statement:
