A Weaubleau man accused of killing his girlfriend's baby daughter last June made an appearance in the Vernon County Circuit Court on Tuesday and was released two days later after his bond was sliced in half.
Daniel D. Mathieson is charged with second-degree murder and felony abuse of a child resulting in death. His case was moved from Hickory County to Vernon County on a change of venue.
During Tuesday's pretrial conference, defense attorney Jill Porter asked Presiding Judge James R. Bickel to reduce Mathieson's bond from $200,000 to $100,000.
Over objections from Assistant Missouri Attorney General Brent M. Nelson, Bickel granted Porter's request, but also ordered Mathieson to remain at home under house arrest and have no contact with the baby's maternal family. Bickel told Mathieson he could only leave his Weaubleau home to go to work, court or to meet with his attorney.
According to court documents, the judge authorized McMahon Bail Bonds to write the $100,000 surety bond for the case on Wednesday and he was released on Thursday.
The murder charges against Mathieson stem from the death of 10-month-old Ricky Ray White, who authorities alleged suffered a brain injury from being shaken violently. The incident allegedly took place while Mathieson was caring for the baby in his home in Weaubleau sometime on the evening of June 5 or early morning hours of June 6, 2012, An autopsy conducted in Springfield found Ricky died from Shaken Impact Syndrome from lack of oxygen because of injuries that caused her brain to bleed and swell. A medical examiner called the death a homicide.
Court documents state that Mathieson denied in at least two interviews that he hurt the child. He said she was awake and alert when he started caring for her at 6 p.m. A family member had taken the infant to the doctor's office for a check up just five hours before Mathieson began watching her.
The baby's grandmother, Rhonda White, told investigators when Mathieson picked up the child, she was awake and alert. Mathieson said he fed the girl, changed her diaper, and she went to sleep.
The baby's mother, Micka White, told investigators she received two text messages from Mathieson during that same evening asking her to pick up some items from the store because the baby did appear to be feeling ill.
According to the court documents, White returned to the residence about 2 a.m. to find her baby girl asleep but breathing heavily. When she checked on the baby again at 4 a.m., she found her with her eyes partly open but couldn't tell if she was breathing. She tried unsuccessfully to wake her, then called 911, and rushed the baby to Sac Osage Hospital in Osceola.
Ricky was later transferred to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and died five days later.
The court documents state that doctors at the Kansas City hospital called the Hickory County Sheriff's Office on June 6 and reported the baby "suffered significant head trauma and was not expected to survive." A later written report indicated the injuries were by forceful trauma to the head.
Information contained in a probable cause statement showed Micka White had left the baby alone with Mathieson before.
She told investigator Greg Burke the first time she found a large bruise on Ricky's head when she returned and Mathieson said she had fallen on a toy piano. Not long after she arrived home after the second time she left the baby with Mathieson, White said she saw that he had "thrown" the baby on the bed after she became sick.
On another occasion White watched Mathieson "jump across the bed" and scream at the baby because she was fussy. The third time she left the girl with Mathieson was on June 5, 2012.
Based on the statements and medical evidence contained in the probable cause statement filed in Hickory County Circuit Court, an arrest warrant was issued and Mathieson was taken into custody in late October 2012. Bond was initially set at $200,000 and a Dec. 13, request for reduced bond denied.
Mathieson requested a change of judge and a change of venue in March of 2013 and the case was move to Vernon County. Bickel has set a trial date of Nov. 19 to 22. Mathieson remains free and under the special conditions of the bond as set by the judge.
Courtesy of Nevada Daily Mail
