Eaton woman accused of killing grandmother transported to mental health facility

EATON — A court hearing for an Eaton woman accused of drowning her grandmother has been delayed after she was transported to a mental health facility.

Heidi Matheny, 35, was scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 30, but her defense attorney asked the court to push that hearing back after she was transported to Summit Behavioral Health, according to court records obtained by News Center 7.

The reason behind Matheny being transported to the Cincinnati-based facility is unknown at this time.

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Matheny was arrested and booked in the Preble County Jail on Nov. 15. She’d been charged with one count of murder and her bond was previously set at $500,000, according to Eaton Municipal Court records.

On the evening of Nov. 15, Eaton police were dispatched to the 300 block of East Somers Street on report of a possible homicide.

Eaton Police Chief Steve Hurd previously told News Center 7 that Heidi admitted to officers she drowned her 93-year-old grandmother, Alice Matheny.

A police report obtained through a News Center 7 public records request stated Heidi told police that she went behind her grandmother while she was doing dishes and she held her head in the sink “until she stopped blowing bubbles.”

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Heidi told police she wasn’t sure if her grandmother was dead yet so she filled up the bathtub and held Alice under for 15 minutes until she stopped breathing and left her in the bathtub.

Afterward, Heidi walked from the apartment to the sheriff’s office.

Police asked Heidi what led up to the drowning and she said “nothing special, it was a day like any other day”, according to a police report.

Matheny’s preliminary hearing is now scheduled to take place on Dec. 7.

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