A mother accused of slitting her 11-year-old son’s throat left him dead on a hotel bed for hours, surrounded by Disneyland souvenirs, prosecutors said on Friday, March 21 in announcing murder charges against her.
Saritha Ramaraju, 48, allegedly confessed to a 911 dispatcher that she had killed her son, Yatin. Prosecutors said Ramaraju, divorced from her son’s father, had bought three-day passes to Disneyland for her custody visit with the child.
A large kitchen knife — purchased a day prior — was found inside the hotel room, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office statement. The boy was supposed to be returned to his father at 6 p.m. Wednesday, the day he was killed.
Ramaraju was charged Friday with murder, along with an enhancement for the use of a knife. The mother, who authorities say attempted suicide by taking pills at the hotel, was released from a hospital and arrested on Thursday.
She is being held without bail and has not yet entered a plea. She is scheduled to appear in court on April 17.
The mother and son had been staying at the La Quinta Inn in the 2700 block of Hotel Terrace in Santa Ana, and they spent some of their visit at Disneyland, prosecutors said.
In a statement released after the criminal charges were filed, DA officials implied the killing is believed to have been tied to a custody dispute.
“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,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a written 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,” The DA added. “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.”
The father — who had full custody of the boy — had allowed the mother to see him during visitation hours while the child was on spring break, police have said. The mother reportedly ingested upwards of 20 pills worth of Advil or Tylenol.
Yatin was most recently a student in the Tustin Unified School District, though he had previously attended a school in the Irvine Unified School District, according to court records and school officials.
The parents had been in a custody battle for more than a year, with the mother alleging that the father, Prakash Raju, had made medical and school decisions without her input and accusing him of having substance abuse issues. The father had been convicted of drunk driving, but in court filings described taking steps to abstain from drinking alcohol, and accused his ex-wife of making other false accusations.
According to the court filings, after the couple divorced in 2018 the father was granted custody and the mother moved to Fairfax, Virginia. Ramaraju later filed a motion seeking custody of her son.
Raju, in his own court filings, alleged that his ex-wife had “demonstrated a lack of commitment in parenting,” and contended that their son had a “supportive community” in Orange County and “excels academically and actively participates in enriching extracurricular activities.”
During one visit to Virginia, the father alleged, the mother had kept the boy past their agreed-upon return date and had tried to register him for school in that state. The father said the boy wasn’t returned until he contacted law enforcement.
If convicted on the murder and enhancement charges, Ramaraju faces up to 26 years to life in prison.