Mum Allegedly Slits 11-Year-Old Son’s Throat In Hotel Room After Dream Disneyland Trip

A California mother has been charged with the murder of her 11-year-old son after allegedly slitting his throat in a hotel room, following what appeared to be a dream trip to Disneyland.

Prosecutors have charged 48-year-old Saritha Ramaraju with murder and an additional felony for using a deadly weapon. According to police reports, she allegedly used a “large kitchen knife” to attack her son on Wednesday, March 19, at the La Quinta Inn and Suites in Santa Ana.

“The safest place for a child should be in their parents’ arms,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer on Friday, March 21, clearly shaken by the tragedy.

Describing the heart-wrenching event, Spitzer said, “Instead of wrapping her arms around their son in love, she sl!t his throat,” adding “And in the cruelest twist of fate, removed him from the very world she brought him into.”

The accused, who currently resides outside of California, was on a three-day custody visit with her son when the incident took place. She is estranged from the boy’s father, and DA Spitzer suggested that potential conflicts between them may have played a role in the child’s death, according to reports from Mirror US.

“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,” Spitzer opined, underlining the role of rage in clouding judgment. He poignantly concluded, “Anger makes you forget who you love and what you are responsible for doing.”

Prosecutors and police disclosed that Ramaraju, previously a resident of Irvine, relocated out of California in 2018 after her divorce. During her custody visit, she was staying at the La Quinta Inn on Hotel Terrace in Santa Ana.

The DA’s office disclosed in a press release that “During the visit, she bought three-day passes to Disneyland for herself and her son.”

“On Wednesday … the day Ramaraju was scheduled to check out of the motel and return the boy to his father, Ramaraju called 911 at 9:12 a.m. to report that she had k!lled her 11-year-old son and had taken pills trying to k!ll herself.”

When officers arrived at the motel, they discovered a large kitchen knife in Ramaraju’s room. According to the DA’s office, the boy appeared to have been deceased for several hours before his mother contacted authorities.

The Santa Ana Police stated, “Officers responded to the scene and detained (Ramaraju) in the hotel hallway.”

They added: “Inside a nearby hotel room, officers found an unresponsive 11-year-old boy with apparent stab wounds. Orange County Fire Authority personnel arrived on scene and pronounced the child deceased.”

Ramaraju was taken into custody on suspicion of murd£r and hospitalized after ingesting an unknown substance, according to police. After her release from the hospital on Thursday, she was formally charged and arraigned in Orange County. Prosecutors have stated that if convicted on all counts, she could face a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in prison.