Wesley Mathews appeals life sentence for daughter's death
DALLAS - A Richardson man is appealing his life sentence in the death of his 3-year-old adopted daughter.
Wesley Mathews pleaded guilty to injury to a child by omission.
This week he filed a motion for a new trial, claiming he did not get a fair trial when jurors were shown pictures of his daughter’s remains.
“The defendant in this case should be granted a new trial in this case because the photographs of the remains of the decedent, both where her body was discovered and in the autopsy suite, were so prejudicial as to deny the defendant a fair trial. Jurors expressed visible emotion when shown the exhibits,” the motion states.
Mathews maintains that his daughter, Sherin, died after choking on her milk in 2017. He admitted to dumping her body in a culvert near their home and then reported her missing the next day.
Richardson police searched for the little girl for several weeks before finding her body. It was so badly decomposed the medical examiner could not determine her cause of death.