Editor’s Note: The date of the not guilty plea has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — The woman accused of drowning her 93-year-old grandmother has been sentenced to prison.
According to the Preble County Prosecutor’s Office, 35-year-old Heidi Matheny was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 years to life in prison. The sentencing comes after Matheny recently changed her plea to guilty.
Matheny was accused of drowning Alice Matheny, her grandmother, Alice Matheny, in November 2022. Police say Matheny had turned herself in to authorities after reportedly drowning Alice. According to court documents, this happened after a doctor’s appointment where Heidi was told Alice needed to go into a nursing home. Heidi said she would have not been able to afford the nursing home.
After the appointment, the two are said to have enjoyed some ice cream.
Heidi allegedly walked up behind Alice while she was cleaning the dishes and shoved her head into the sink “until the bubbles stopped.” Heidi was said to have told police that she had taken her grandmother to the bathtub to verify she was deceased.
Matheny appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to murder in December 2022. She was ordered by the court to take a mental competency evaluation, which she was found by the Preble County Common Pleas Court to be competent to stand trial.
