PREBLE COUNTY, Ohio (TCD) — A 35-year-old woman scheduled to go on trial this month pleaded guilty to killing her elderly grandmother by forcing her head underwater in the sink and again in the bathtub.
On Nov. 15, 2022, Eaton Police Department officers were called to 325 E. Somers St. regarding a possible homicide and found 93-year-old Alice Matheny deceased. Officers arrested Heidi Matheny on suspicion of murder.
Preble County court records show Matheny pleaded guilty Friday, March 3, and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Her trial was supposed to begin March 13.
According to WXIX-TV, Matheny turned herself in after killing her grandmother and told detectives she held Alice’s head “in the sink until she stopped blowing bubbles.”
Heidi Matheny moved Alice to the couch, but then Alice “started blowing bubbles so she put her in the bathtub until she stopped.”
Heidi reportedly said her grandmother needed to be in a nursing home but wasn’t living in one because they couldn’t afford it.
The Journal-News, which cites court documents, says Matheny forced Alice underwater in the bathtub for 15 minutes by holding her down.
Matheny told detectives she had a “day like any other day,” and the two spent time together, but then Matheny walked up behind Alice while she did dishes and put her head in the sink.
According to the Journal-News, Matheny said she “just lost my s–t.”
She added, “It’s nothing that she did. She’s a perfect freaking grandma.”
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