Sherin Mathews case: Charges dropped against mother Sini Mathews

A US court has dropped the charges against Sini Mathews, the mother of Sherin Mathews who was found dead in a culvert near the family home in Richardson, Texas, on October 22, 2017, two weeks after her family reported her missing. She was released from jail early on Friday afternoon.

Sini Mathews was charged with child endangerment after she left her adoptive daughter Sherin alone at home while she and her husband Wesley went to dinner with their 4-four-year old bilogical daughter on the night before she was reported missing.

Wesley had initially told the police that his daughter had gone missing from outside the house. He had claimed that she was made to stand outside the house at 3am as punishment for not finishing her milk. By the time he went outside to get her inside the house, she had gone missing. Her body was found two weeks later in the culvert.

Later, he told the police that Sherin had died after choking on milk and that he had put her body in the culvert.

The charges against Sini Mathews were dropped after the district attorney said there was not enough evidence to proceed. If she had been convicted, she would have faced a jail sentence of between two to 20 years.

But it is to be noted that the charges against her were dismissed without prejudice, which means that same or different charges could be leveled against her at any time.

Earlier, the Dallas County Court had ruled that Sini and Wesley Mathews will face separate trials.

To reporters waiting outside the jail, Sini said that she was "blessed" the charges were dismissed and that she was looking forward to being reunited with her daughter, who is staying with relatives in Houston. She said that the past 15 months she spent in the jail were "challenging".