A trip to the happiest place on Earth ended in tragedy for one young boy and his mother. After three days at Disneyland, the boy was dead. And his mother, Saritha Ramaraju, is his alleged killer. Video footage shows that the mother called the police herself, reportedly with his blood still on her hands.
The mother, who was engaged in an acrimonious custody battle with the child’s father, allegedly reported the crime herself.
Bodycam footage of Saritha Ramaraju’s arrest was obtained and shared publicly by Law & Crime. In the video, the mother is seen approaching officers at the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Santa Ana, California.
“Come over here,” an officer says to her. As she gets closer, she appears to be on the phone. If she is speaking to someone, what’s being said can’t be heard in the footage.
“She has blood on her hands,” an officer can be heard saying as they begin to handcuff her. Blood could be seen on her sleeve. The 48-year-old mother complied with police as they arrested her.
Saritha Ramaraju, 48, is charged with murdering her 11-year-old son in Orange County, California, following a trip to Disneyland, as captured by police body cameras at a Santa Ana hotel. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy @angnette5 looks at the horrific details of the case. pic.twitter.com/hkSDOdfT5j
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) March 26, 2025
Saritha Ramaraju called 911 and reported that she murdered her 11-year-old son Yatin Ramaraju, CBS News reported. Officer Natalie Garcia of the Santa Ana Police Department, said that it appeared the boy had been stabbed. The Orange County District Attorney’s office said in a statement that the boy’s throat had been slit.
The woman also told police she had taken some pills evidently in an attempt to take her own life, so after her arrest, she was transported to a hospital. After her treatment, she was booked on suspicion of murder.
According to prosecutors, Saritha Ramaraju was scheduled to return her son to his father, with whom she shares custody. Instead, the boy was “found by police that morning dead on the motel room’s bed among Disneyland souvenirs.”
NBC News Los Angeles reported that Saritha Ramaraju and the boy’s father divorced in 2018. She has since moved to Virginia, but the boy remained in California. The parents have been in a custody battle since 2024. During that time, she accused her ex-husband of making medical and school decisions without asking her. Additionally, she accused him of having substance abuse issues.
Prakash Raju previously criticized his ex-wife’s parenting. He said she “has demonstrated a lack of commitment in parenting.” The woman reportedly has an adult daughter whom she hasn’t maintained contact with over 23 years, “effectively abandoning” the young woman. “This concerning history leads me to fear that similar actions may adversely affect our son, Yatin, in the future,” he said.
Raju also accused the mother of kidnapping her son after a summer visit to Virginia. He claimed Saritha Ramaraju “suddenly refused to return him to California as we had agreed. She kept him for over a week after our agreed-upon return date and even attempted to unilaterally register him for school in Virginia without any type of notice, agreement or court order.”
Saritha Ramaraju was initially charged with one felony count of murder and one felony enhancement of personal use of a weapon, a knife. However, the district attorney’s office told People it filed for an upgraded charge of special circumstances murder, including the special circumstance of lying in wait. There are allegations that the woman purchased the kitchen knife she allegedly used the day before the murder.
According to the DA’s office, the upgraded charge could mean the mother faces the death penalty.
