EATON — An Eaton woman is facing a murder charge, following a homicide investigation into the death of her 93-year-old grandmother last Tuesday, Nov. 15.

According to a press release issued by the Eaton Police Division on Wednesday, Nov. 16, officers were called to 325 E. Somers Street on a report of a possible homicide at 5:55 p.m. last Tuesday.

Heidi Matheny, 35, was arrested and booked into the Preble County Jail on murder charges, with formal charges pending from the Preble County Prosecutor’s Office. According to Eaton Municipal Court records, she was arraigned on Thursday, Nov. 17, and is being held on $500,000 bond.

The victim, Alice Matheny, 93, a resident of the Somers Street address, is Heidi Matheny’s grandmother. Alice Matheny was transported to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office for autopsy, according to the release.

There were no other suspects in the case, and the incident remained under investigation at press time.

Based on the EPD’s preliminary report Heidi Matheny confessed to drowning her grandmother.

According to the report, Officer Paul Eversole was dispatched to the Preble County Jail, Tuesday, Nov. 15, on a “report of a female wanting to be committed, and that he was told she was saying “she drowned her grandmother in Eaton.”

In speaking with Heidi Matheny, Eversole reported asking her “what was going on,” to which “she said said she felt like she put the dog down.”

According to the report, Matheny stated she first “held her head in the sink until she stopped blowing bubbles, then she drug (sp) her to the couch. She started blowing bubbles so she put her in the bathtub until she stopped.”

Matheny told officers her grandmother’s doctor “said she needs to be in a nursing home but they cannot afford it. The nursing home is $289 a day and her insurance won’t cover it because she owns a house.” She went on to tell officers it was an “(expletive) nightmare and I am sick of seeing her. She is stressed out, she has panic attacks almost every day. She shouldn’t have to live like that.”

According to the report, Matheny said she had committed the crime approximately an hour and a half before leaving the Somers Street apartment and walking to the Sheriff’s Office to turn herself in.

Officers were able to locate the correct apartment and made entry to confirm the elderly female was deceased in the bathtub, according to the report.

Preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 22.