After a three-day Disneyland vacation together, this mother slit her 11-year-old son’s throat
(Saritha Ramaraju, booking photo, Image credit: Santa Ana Police Department)
A mother has been charged with one felony count of murder for slitting her 11-year-old son’s throat, killing the boy after a three-day vacation to Disneyland during a custody visit. The unthinkable act went down in a motel room in Santa Ana, California, on March 19 – immediately following their Disneyland vaycay.
The boy, who was scheduled to be returned to his father on Wednesday, was instead found by police that morning dead on the motel room’s bed among Disneyland souvenirs after his mother called 911 to report she had killed her son.
When police arrived on the scene, they discovered the child unresponsive in the hotel room, and he was suffering from multiple stab wounds. The boy was declared dead at the scene by personnel with the Orange County Fire Authority, according to Fox News in Los Angeles.
Ramaraju was taken to an area hospital to be evaluated after she had consumed an unknown substance in an apparent effort to commit suicide, after killing her son. She was released from the hospital the next day and taken into custody on suspicion of stabbing the 11-year-old to death.
Following her arrest, she was charged with one felony count of murder and one felony enhancement of personal use of a weapon, a knife. She faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life if convicted on those charges. She was also charged with child endangerment, torture and aggravated mayhem.
She was arraigned later in the day on March 21 where the judge ordered her kept in custody without bail. Her next court date is scheduled for April 17.
Background: Ramaraju, who moved out of state after divorcing the boy’s father in 2018, was staying with her son at the La Quinta Inn in the 2700 block of Hotel Terrace in Santa Ana for a custody visit. During the visit, she bought three-day passes to Disneyland for herself and her son.
On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, the day Ramaraju was scheduled to check out of the motel and return the boy to his father, she called 911 at 9:12 a.m. to report that she had killed her 11-year-old son and had taken pills trying to kill herself. Santa Ana police arrived at the motel and arrested Ramaraju on suspicion of murder. A large kitchen knife was found inside the motel room which was purchased the day before.
It appeared the boy had been dead for several hours before his mother called 911.
“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,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
“Anger makes you forget who you love and what you are responsible for doing. The safest place for a child should be in their parents’ arms. Instead of wrapping her arms around their son in love, she slit his throat and in the cruelest twist of fate removed him from the very world she brought him into.”
There’s no known motive yet for the mother’s actions; and officials are hoping to learn more about the deadly stabbing. Anyone with any information regarding this case is asked to contact Santa Ana PD homicide detectives at 714-245-8390. There’s also an option to submit tips online for those who wish to remain anonymous.
For more on this tragic and senseless tale, see the video accompanying this article.
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(Source: Santa Ana Police Department, and, Orange County District Attorney’s Office)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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