Mother who allegedly slit sons throat and left his body surrounded by new Disneyland souvenirs charged with murder
A mother in California allegedly slit her son’s throat following a trip to Disneyland before she unsuccessfully attempted to take her own life the day the boy was due to return to see his father.Saritha Ramaraju, 48, was charged with one count of murder and one count of personally using a deadly weapon, according to a press release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.If convicted, she faces a maximum of 26 years in prison.Ramaraju allegedly murdered her 11-year-old son, Yatin Ramaraju, after wrapping up their three-day trip to Disneyland on Wednesday.Yatin, whose custody was split between his parents following their divorce in 2018, was set to be returned to his father the day he was murdered.Ramaraju called authorities at 9:10 a.m.
on Wednesday and confessed to killing her son in their hotel room at the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Santa Ana, Calif.She also told them over the phone that she had already ingested an unspecified number of pills, apparently with the intent to kill herself, according to the DA’s office.Authorities found Yatin laid on the bed surrounded by souvenirs from his trip with his mother.They also recovered a large kitchen knife that Ramaraju had purchased the day prior.Ramaraju was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.
She was released on Thursday and taken into police custody.Yatin had apparently been dead for several hours before Ramaraju called the police, according to the DA’s office.“The life of a child should not hang in the balance between two parents whose anger for each other outweighs their love for their child.Anger can make you forget who you love and what you are responsible for doing,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the press release. “The safest place for a child should be in their parents’ arms.
Instead of wrapping her arms around her son in love, she slit his throat and in the cruelest twist of fate removed him from the very world she brought him into.”Ramaraju...