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Chilling police bodycam footage captures the moment a California mother, accused of murdering her 11-year-old son, silently surrendered to authorities.
According to The New York Post, 48-year-old Saritha Ramaraju was arrested on March 19 at the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Santa Ana. Officers discovered the mutilated body of her son, Yatin Ramaraju, lying on a bed—surrounded by Disneyland souvenirs from their recent trip.
The video, obtained by Law & Crime, shows Ramaraju slowly and silently walking out of her motel room, a phone pressed to her ear, as officers with guns drawn command her: “Come over here.”
Dressed in a polka dot sweater, white bottoms, and socks without shoes, she appears detached—her demeanor described as “zombie-like.”
As officers approached Ramaraju to place her in handcuffs, one of them made a chilling observation: “She has blood on her hands.”
Ramaraju did not resist and remained motionless and silent during the arrest. Bloodstains were also visible on her sleeve.
Authorities say Ramaraju herself made the 911 call that led to her arrest, confessing to killing her son and swallowing an unspecified number of pills in what officials described as an attempted suicide, PEOPLE reports.
Prosecutors allege she used a large kitchen knife—purchased the day before—to slit her son’s throat and stab him multiple times.
The gruesome discovery was made just hours after the mother and son returned from a three-day Disneyland trip, which was part of a court-ordered custody visit, The Mirror reported.
On the day of the murder, Ramaraju was scheduled to return Yatin to his father, whom she divorced in 2018 after what officials described as a “contentious” legal battle. Since the split, she had moved out of state while Yatin primarily lived with his dad.
Kimberly Edds, public information officer for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, told Law & Crime:
“He was living his best life, every child’s dream of being at Disneyland, spending time with his mom. The day he was going to be returned to his father, instead, she slit his throat and then hours later called 911 to report that she had killed her son and taken pills to kill herself.”
Edds continued, “When law enforcement arrived, they found a horrific scene—this poor little boy with his throat cut on the bed, and there were souvenirs from Disneyland in the room.”
By the time officers arrived, Yatin had been dead for several hours.
Ramaraju was initially taken to the hospital as a precaution before being booked into jail. She is currently being held without bond and has been assigned a public defender.
Originally charged with one count of murder and one felony enhancement for the personal use of a weapon, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has since moved to upgrade the charges to special circumstances murder, citing evidence that she premeditated the attack by purchasing the knife beforehand and laying in wait.
If the special circumstance is upheld, Ramaraju could face the death penalty.
“She is scheduled to appear in court in Orange County on April 17,” officials confirmed
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer issued a stark statement following the arrest:
“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. 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 her son in love, she slit his throat—and in the cruelest twist of fate, removed him from the very world she brought him into.”
