An Indian-origin woman has been charged with the alleged murder of her 11-year-old son following a three-day vacation to Disneyland.
Saritha Ramaraju, 48, faces one felony count of murder and an additional felony enhancement for the personal use of a weapon—a knife—after allegedly slitting her son's throat during a custody visit. If convicted on all charges, she could face a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in prison, according to a statement released Friday by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office in California.
Ramaraju, who moved out of California following her divorce from the boy’s father in 2018, had been staying with her son at a motel in Santa Ana during a court-approved custody visit. She had purchased three-day passes to Disneyland for the trip.
On March 19, the day she was supposed 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 killed her son and had taken pills in a suicide attempt.
When Santa Ana police arrived at the scene, they found the boy dead on the motel bed, surrounded by Disneyland souvenirs. Authorities believe he had been dead for several hours before the 911 call was made. A large kitchen knife—reportedly purchased the day before—was found in the room.
Ramaraju was hospitalized after ingesting an unknown substance and was arrested after being released from the hospital on Thursday.
“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 in a statement. “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, she wrapped her arms around her son not in love—but in death—taking him out of the very world she brought him into.”
While the official statement did not identify the child, a report by NBC Los Angeles named him as Yatin Ramaraju.
The report also revealed that Saritha Ramaraju had been in a custody battle with her ex-husband, Prakash Raju, since last year. She had accused him of making unilateral decisions regarding their son's medical care and schooling, and of having a history of substance abuse.
According to court documents, Prakash Raju, who was born and raised in Bengaluru, India, was granted custody of their son when the couple divorced in January 2018. Saritha was given visitation rights. She had been living in Fairfax, Virginia, and reportedly wanted her son to move in with her.
In court filings, Saritha alleged that Prakash had “severe control issues” and said their son was “very scared to talk to his mother” out of fear he’d get into trouble with his father. She also claimed that Prakash “gets very aggressive under the influence of alcohol, drugs, and smoke.”
Prakash, in his defense, denied all allegations, calling them “completely false and untrue,” according to the report.
