Wesley Mathews pleads guilty to lesser charges in the death of Sherin Mathews

Dallas, Texas
Wesley Mathews, 39, accused of killing his adopted daughter, Sherin Mathews, 3, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge before his capital murder trial began yesterday (Monday)
He pleaded guilty to injury to a child by omission. If he'd been found guilty of capital murder, Mathews would have faced an automatic life sentence without parole for the 3-year-old girl's death in 2017, according to Dallas News. He could still face life in prison and prosecutors urged the jury to choose that sentence. But the jury could decide on a lighter sentence, the report said.
Police found Sherin's body in October 2017, two weeks after Mathews reported her missing. He initially told police Sherin disappeared on Oct. 7, 2017, after he left her outside the family's home as punishment for not drinking her milk. He called police five hours later.
Mathews later told police the child died because she choked while he "physically assisted her" with drinking her milk.
Prose3cution attorney Jason Fine said that Mathews' character and his actions following Sherin's disappearance will persuade the jury that it is "left with only one just verdict" -- life in prison.
Rafael De La Garza, Mathews' attorney, asked the jury for leniency as his client is remorseful and heartbroken for the poor decisions he took that day.
Jeremy Savage, the Richardson police officer who responded to Mathews' 911 call, told the jury Mathews was noticeably calm when he arrived at the home.