Correction: A prior edition of this story listed the incorrect relationship between the suspect and victim. This error has been corrected.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – An Eaton woman turned herself in to police after authorities say she allegedly drowned her grandmother in the kitchen sink.
According to the Eaton Police Division, 35-year-old Heidi Matheny turned herself in to authorities, claiming that she had drowned her grandmother, 93-year-old Alice Matheny after she was told Alice Matheny needed to be in a nursing home.
The day before, Heidi Matheny reportedly brought her grandmother to a doctor’s appointment where she was told she needed to be in a nursing home, something Heidi Matheny said she could not afford.
According to the police report, Heidi Matheny allegedly told officers that it began as “a day like any other day.”
The police report explains Heidi said the doctor told her that he grandmother needed to be in a nursing home, but she could not afford it and her insurance would not cover it.
After Heidi Matheny and Alice Matheny enjoyed some ice cream, Heidi Matheny allegedly walked up behind her grandmother while she was doing dishes and pushed her head into the sink, holding her there “until the bubbles stopped.” After this, Heidi Matheny told police she brought her grandmother to the bathtub to make sure she was dead.
“It’s nothing that she did,” Heidi Matheny said in the police interview,” She’s not – She’s the perfect freaking grandma.”
“According to the confession, she was just tired of taking care of a grandmother,” Eaton Police Division Chief Steven Hurd said.
Heidi Matheny then reportedly left the apartment through the window and walked to the Sheriff’s Office, the interview claims.
Officers investigated the apartment on the 300 block of East Somers Street just before 6 p.m. When officers arrived on the scene, they found 93-year-old Alice Matheny lying dead in the bathtub, the police report states. Alice Matheny was brought to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Officer for an autopsy.
The police interview states that Heidi Matheny said she was “sick of seeing her,” and that her grandmother was finally at peace.
Police arrested Heidi Matheny on one charge of murder, a release by authorities said.
“It’s difficult not to take this to heart when you have a 35-year-old granddaughter who allegedly drowned her grandmother of 93 years of age in the bathtub,” Hurd said.
This incident remains under investigation and formal charges are pending from the Preble County Prosecutor’s Office.
