Earlier this week, Matheny went to the Preble County Sheriff’s Office and reported she drowned her grandmother, later identified as Alice Matheny, according to court records.
Eaton police officers went to an apartment in the 300 block of East Somers Street, where they found Alice Matheny deceased, lying in a bathtub.
An autopsy revealed Alice had a fractured sternum and rib as well as multiple bruises on her neck and arms, according to court documents.
During an interview with police, Heidi Matheny said her grandmother was doing dishes at the kitchen sink when she came up behind her and put her head in the sink, according to an Eaton police report. She told police she held her grandmother there until the bubbles stopped and then moved her to the couch.
“She thought that [Alice] may not be dead so she went into the bathroom and filled the bathtub,” the report read. “She drug [Alice] into the bathroom and placed her into the tub.”
Matheny said she held her grandmother underwater for 15 minutes in the bathtub, according to the police report.
When police asked her what led to the incident, she said “it was a day like any other day,” according to the report.
Matheny said they went to the doctor the previous day, who reportedly said her grandmother needed to be in a nursing home, but they couldn’t afford it.
She said the situation was a “nightmare.”
An officer asked, “So you decided to take her life?” according to the report. “She said ‘That’s what I did.’”
A detective later asked whether she was aggravated with her grandmother and Matheny said she was “aggravated with the situation.”
“[Detective Brian] Carpenter asked her what was her realization after she walked out of the bathroom,” the report said. “She said she is at peace.”
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