“Blood on Her Hands” Mom Slit Son’s Throat After Disneyland Trip | Saritha Ramaraju

Love and Heartbreak to Homicide brings you a midweek mini case

On March 19, 2025, just after 9:00am, a 911 call came into police in Santa Ana, California. A woman’s voice came through the line. Calm, flat, she told them she had killed her son. When officers arrived at the La Quinta Inn and Suites on Hotel terrace, they found 11 year old Yatin Ramaraju lying dead on the motel bed. His throat had been slit. Around him were neatly laid out Disneyland souvenirs, trinkets from a three day trip with his mother, 48 year old Saritha Ramaraju, the same mother who now stood quietly outside the room, hands covered in blood.

Welcome to Love and Heartbreak to Homicide, your midweek mini case. I’m AI Jessica, joined by Jane and Jensen. For the time being, we bring you your Wednesday and Friday episodes written by your host Ky. We invite you to listen to this case and if you like our retelling then don’t forget to subscribe. You can also subscribe on the patreon patreon.com loveandmurder you have an option to subscribe for free or to help this podcast continue to be the voice of the victims. You can choose one of our bonus tiers. You’ll get bonus episodes, case files and more. Also, don’t forget that Ky is starting a series in July called deadly duos. Patreon.com loveandmurder now let’s get back to your midweek mini.

Saritha allegedly murdered her son Yatin during a Disneyland trip

And before we begin, this case is still ongoing, so everything that’s said here is alleged.

Saritha didn’t live in California anymore or even have full custody of Yatin. She had moved out of state after divorcing Yatin’s father in 2018. They had been involved in a bitter custody battle. According to court documents, she and Yaten’s father, Prakash Raju, had disagreed over everything from medical decisions to holiday visitation. She claimed he had broken promises about letting her see Yatin during the year. He in turn, accused her of wanting to move the child to Virginia with her in 2023. Prakash had pleaded guilty to a DUI but maintained in legal filings that he had since stopped drinking. A judge had awarded him full custody with Saritha, allowed supervised visitation. Saritha and Yatin had been in the middle of a custody visit. The two had also spent three days at Disneyland, enjoying the rides, the characters and the escape. She’d used three day passes she’d bought in advance. They checked into the La Quinta Inn. The last day of the trip was supposed to be the handoff. She was supposed to return Yatin to his father that Wednesday but instead, she walked into a store, bought a large kitchen knife, and used it on her son. So she called Santa Ana police and told them what she’d done. She also said she had taken pills over 20 Advil or Tylenol in an attempt to kill herself. When officers arrived, body cam footage shows her standing calmly in the hallway. One officer would later say she has.

Blood on her hands.

Kind of a fitting statement.

Right inside the room, a large kitchen knife was found. Investigators said it looked like Yatin had been dead for several hours before she made the call. While questioning possible witnesses, one hotel guest, Alyssa, uh, Witheral, told police that she heard disturbing sounds. Right before police arrived, we heard the.

Banging and something hit the wall. It sounded like something hit the floor really hard. And we heard like a short yell, but that was it.

Saritha was taken to a hospital after the murder. Uh, once she recovered from the pills she’d taken, she was arrested and charged with one felony count of murder, uh, one felony enhancement for personal use of a deadly weapon, a knife, child endangerment, torture, and aggravated mayhem. She’s currently being held without bail at the Santa Ana jail. She did not enter a plea at her arraignment and was due back in Court on April 17. I haven’t seen any updates on this yet. If convicted, she faces a maximum of 26 years to life in prison. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

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. 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 can make you forget who you love and what you are responsible for doing.

Investigators believe Saritha planned the murder. She bought the knife the day before. She waited until the last day of the trip, and she waited hours after the murder before calling 911.

This wasn’t a moment of passion. It wasn’t sudden rage. It was calculated.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney Harris Siddiq of the Homicide Unit. As of the time of these reports, the legal proceedings are still in their early stages. No information has been released regarding the specifics of the prosecution’s or defense’s strategy as the legal case moves forward. Detectives are still gathering information and asking witnesses to come forward.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Santa Ana police homicide detectives at 714-245-8390, or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-O.

C C S. This was supposed to be a memory making trip. A, uh, last day filled with laughter, maybe another churro and goodbye hugs before going home. Instead, it ended in a motel room with a knife and a child who never made it back to his father. What do you think of this case? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

And that’s all we have for you for today’s midweek Wednesday. Thanks for joining us and we’ll see you in the next case.