The Indian-American foster mother of Sherin Mathews who was found dead in a culvert in Dallas under suspicious circumstances, has requested a bond reduction hearing in her child endangerment case, according to a media report today.
Sini Ann Mathews, 35, was arrested last week after investigators said she and her husband, Wesley Mathews, left their 3-year-old adopted daughter at home, without adult supervision for about 90 minutes, while they went out for dinner with their biological daughter on October 6.
As a result of that incident, Sini was charged with child endangerment and is being held on $250,000 bond. Sini was arraigned last week after she turned herself in at the Richardson City Jail, escorted by her attorney.
With the bond hearing scheduled for on November 27, she is expected to remain in jail through Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, NBC 5 channel reported.
Sherin's 37-year-old adoptive father, Wesley has already been arrested and charged with injury to a child, a felony charge. He is now in jail with a USD 1 million bond. The crime is punishable with up to 99 years in prison.
On October 7, Wesley called police and reported Sherin missing from their home in Richardson City, a suburb of Dallas. Wesley initially told police that Sherin disappeared overnight after he ordered her to stand outside their home at about 3 am for not drinking her milk.
When he returned to see Sherin, Wesley said she had disappeared and that her location was unknown.
Sherin's body was found in a drainage culvert two weeks after Wesley reported her missing. Soon, he changed his story to say that he "physically assisted" Sherin drink the milk and that she choked and died. He told police that he later moved her body from the home.
Sini, a nurse, has maintained her innocence in Sherin's death, said she was asleep when the incident happened overnight with Wesley.
According to Richardson Police Department officials, the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office is continuing to work on determining the cause of Sherin's death.
"Those results will be made available when complete," a police spokesman said.
The US Child Protective Services (CPS) placed the couple's biological 3-year-old daughter into foster care soon after Sherin disappeared.
On Monday, CPS officials said that the child had been turned over to the custody of family members in the Houston area.
Sini and Wesley Mathews have a custody hearing for their biological daughter scheduled for November 29.
Both Wesley and Sini are currently behind bars at the Dallas County Jail.
