A 48-year-old woman from California, Saritha Ramaraju, is currently facing murder charges and a felony enhancement for personal use of a weapon. She is accused of fatally stabbing her 11-year-old son with a large kitchen knife during a custody visit. The incident took place in a hotel room at La Quinta Inn & Suites in Santa Ana on March 19, as reported by Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
Spitzer expressed his deep sorrow over the tragic incident, emphasizing that a child should feel most secure in the presence of their parents. He expressed his disappointment that instead of providing her son with love and care, Ramaraju allegedly ended his life in a cruel turn of events.
Ramaraju, who currently lives out of state, was in California for a three-day custody visit with her son. She and the boy’s father are divorced, and Spitzer suggested that unresolved issues between the parents might have played a role in the tragic incident. He stressed that a child’s life should never be put at risk due to parental disputes.
Ramaraju, a former resident of Irvine, moved out of California in 2018 following her divorce. She was staying at the La Quinta Inn in Santa Ana for her custody visit. During her stay, she bought three-day passes to Disneyland for herself and her son.
On the day she was supposed to check out of the motel and return the boy to his father, Ramaraju dialed 911 to report that she had killed her son and attempted suicide by taking pills. When the police arrived at the scene, they found a large kitchen knife in her room and determined that the boy had been dead for several hours.
Ramaraju was arrested on suspicion of murder and hospitalized due to the ingestion of an unknown substance. After her release from the hospital, she was charged and arraigned in Orange County. If found guilty on all charges, Ramaraju could face a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in prison.