Haunting moment mom who ‘slit son’s throat on Disney trip & left body surrounded by souvenirs’ is found covered in blood
DISTURBING footage has been released of a mother who allegedly murdered her 11-year-old son during a trip to Disney.
Police body cam footage shows the mother in a trance-like state walking out of her hotel room with blood on her hands.
Saritha Ramaraju, 48, was arrested on March 19 for allegedly slitting her son’s throat and stabbing him several times at the La Quinta Inn in Santa Ana, California.
In the haunting video, Ramaraju calmly walks toward the officers while talking on the phone.
The officers asked who else was in the room and she replied that her son, Yatin, was inside.
Two officers entered the hotel room as another instructed her to put her hands behind her back.
Once the officer began handcuffing the mother, she noticed a shocking detail.
“She has blood on her hands,” the arresting officer said.
Police rushed to the motel after Ramaraju called 911.
Cops say she admitted to murdering her son and told the operator that she’d taken pills to kill herself.
The body cam footage released to the public cuts off as soon as the blood on Ramaraju’s hands is found.
When law enforcement entered the room, they found the 11-year-old boy had been slashed to death, local NBC affiliate KNBC reported.
Police say he appeared to have been dead for hours before they arrived.
Disneyland souvenirs reportedly surrounded the boy after he and his mother spent three days together going to the parks.
CUSTODY BATTLE
Ramaraju was due to return her son to his father, Prakash Raju, the day he was murdered.
The couple divorced in 2018, prompting Ramaraju to move from California to Fairfax, Virginia.
Raju was granted custody with Ramaraju receiving visitation rights as part of a heated custody battle.
It began in 2024 when Ramaraju accused Raju of making medical and school decisions without her input and claimed he had substance abuse issues – which he denied.
Court documents filed in November reveal the mother wanted young Yatin to move to Virginia with her.
Ramaraju also claimed she and Raju had agreed to let Yatin visit her for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but then Raju changed his mind and decided to keep the boy in California.
Ramaraju said her ex-husband has “severe control issues” and that their son “is very scared to talk to mother as he’ll get into trouble with dad.”
The accusations follow Raju’s 2022 DUI arrest which he pled guilty to on June 21, 2023.
The California man was arrested for driving with a blood-alcohol level of .25, over three times the legal limit.
Raju was placed on three years of informal probation.
He has since said he’s taking all necessary steps to better himself and will never drive drunk again.
In response to accusations made by his ex-wife, Raju accused the woman of “citing completely false and untrue abuse and substance abuse issues.”
After mediation, Raju was granted primary custody of their son while the mother could have him for winter break.
The father said his ex-wife “has demonstrated a lack of commitment in parenting, as evidenced by her absence from her daughter Veda’s life for over 23 years – effectively abandoning her from a previous marriage.
“This concerning history leads me to fear that similar actions may adversely affect our son, Yatin, in the future.”
During a previous visit between Yatin and Ramaraju, Raju claimed that 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.”