By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Yale mother accused of stabbing her 11-day-old baby boy in the stomach last Saturday “is in my medical cell by herself under medical observation,” Payne County Sheriff Kevin Woodward told KUSH today.
“We think she may have postpartum depression,” the sheriff said about Victoria Shane Matheson-Lewis, 26, who was arrested at 9:21 p.m. on Saturday at her residence in the area of Greenwood and 68th Street in rural Yale.
While a relative called 911 at 8:48 p.m. Saturday, family members took the infant to the Yale Fire Department; when Cushing ambulance staff arrived, the baby was transported to the Stillwater Medical Center and then airlifted to the OU Children’s Hospital for surgery, the sheriff said.
The baby was listed in stable condition after surgery, but the sheriff explained that he does not have current information on the baby’s status due to privacy laws..
The baby’s mother “will not talk to us at this time,” the sheriff added.
“We’re currently working with Grand Lake Mental Health in Stillwater to find a bed for in-patient treatment for her,” the sheriff said.
“We’ve got a mental health professional talking to her every day trying to help her,” the sheriff said.
“We’ll probably have to take her to the Stillwater Medical Center to re-hydrate her. We do that every couple days,” the sheriff added.
Her husband, Austin Matheson, who was stabbed in the chest when he shoved his wife away from the baby, said, “Victoria repeatedly stated, ‘the devil made me do it’ and asked Austin to kill her,” Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy David Sloan alleged in an affidavit. The baby’s father declined immediate medical treatment, the sheriff said.
The baby’s maternal grandmother said, “Victoria had been recently diagnosed with postpartum depression,” the affidavit said.
The baby’s father said he had just gotten to the residence when he heard his wife’s mother say “Vicki (Victoria) had the baby,” the affidavit alleged.
“Austin stated he walked around the back side of a car, parked approximately 20 feet to the south of an outbuilding to the west of the residence, and observed Victoria squatting and saw the infant on the ground. Austin stated he saw something in Victoria’s hand, but could not tell what it was.
“Austin stated he shoved Victoria away from the infant. Austin stated that is when Victoria stabbed him in the chest. Austin stated he took the knife from Victoria and threw it. Austin later advised me he did not know when the infant got stabbed. Austin subdued Victoria and told (her mother) to take the infant to the hospital,” the deputy alleged in his affidavit.
“I went inside and observed Victoria sitting in a chair just inside the front door. I observed dried blood on Victoria’s hands, left leg and around her nose and mouth,” the deputy wrote in his affidavit.
“When I asked Victoria if she understood her rights, she looked straight ahead. When I asked Victoria again if she understood her rights, she looked me in the eyes and put her hands out in front of her as if she wanted me to put handcuffs on her. When Victoria looked at me, it appeared as if she was looking through me,” the deputy wrote in his affidavit.
“I located a fixed blade, hunting-style knife, approximately 20 feet to the southwest, from the southwest corner of the outbuilding. The knife had a yellow and brown handle with approximately a six-inch blade. Deputy Miller secured the knife in a paper bag and placed it in my patrol car,” to be packaged as evidence, Deputy Sloan wrote in his affidavit.
“Deputy McKosato transported Victoria to the Payne County Jail where her clothes were seized as evidence,” the affidavit said.
A Department of Human Services case worker, who arrived at the residence to investigate, determined that other children, who were at another residence when the incident occurred, did not need placement at that time, the affidavit said.
The baby’s mother was being held in the Payne County Jail on suspicion of child abuse by injury and assault and battery with a deadly weapon, the sheriff said.
According to court records, the baby’s mother was charged in Pawnee County in 2013 with the felony of robbery with a weapon and a misdemeanor count of unlawfully wearing a mask or hood. She pleaded guilty in 2014 to both counts and was given a one-year jail term followed by four years of probation for robbery, with a concurrent one-year jail term for wearing a mask or hood.
Also in Payne County, the baby’s mother was charged with knowingly concealing a stolen watch in 2016 in Stillwater, a misdemeanor to which she pleaded guilty and received a sentence on Oct. 1, 2019, of one year of probation on which she remains.
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