The devastating case of Saritha Ramaraju, an Indian-origin woman charged with the brutal murder of her 11-year-old son Yatin Ramaraju, has left a community reeling with shock and grief. Ramaraju, 48, now faces a felony charge of murder alongside an additional enhancement for using a deadly weapon — a kitchen knife — to take her son’s life. According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, if convicted on all charges, she could face a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in prison.
The tragedy unfolded on March 19, 2024, the day Ramaraju was supposed to check out of a Santa Ana motel and return Yatin to his father following a court-ordered custody visit. During this visit, she had taken her son on a three-day trip to Disneyland, buying park passes and creating what seemed to be happy memories — only for the vacation to end in unimaginable horror.
At 9:12 am that morning, Ramaraju made a chilling 911 call, admitting to having killed her son and claiming to have ingested pills in an attempt to end her own life. When Santa Ana police officers arrived at the motel, they found Yatin’s body lying lifeless on the bed, surrounded by Disneyland souvenirs. It appeared he had been dead for several hours before his mother made the call. A large kitchen knife, which investigators later confirmed had been purchased the day before, was found in the room — the weapon believed to have been used to slit the young boy’s throat.
Ramaraju was taken to the hospital for treatment after ingesting an unknown substance. Once she was medically stable, she was discharged and immediately arrested on suspicion of murder.
The tragedy has shed light on the bitter custody battle that had been unfolding between Saritha Ramaraju and her ex-husband, Prakash Raju, since their divorce in January 2018. Court documents revealed a history of accusations and counter-accusations from both parents, painting a picture of a deeply fractured relationship filled with resentment and hostility.
Ramaraju, who had moved to Fairfax, Virginia, after the divorce, had been fighting for custody of her son. In her filings, she accused Prakash of having "a history of substance abuse issues," alleging that he became aggressive under the influence of drugs and alcohol. She further claimed that he had "severe control issues" and manipulated their son, leaving the boy too frightened to communicate with her freely.
Prakash, on the other hand, vehemently denied these allegations, describing them as “completely false and untrue.” He maintained that Saritha was using fabricated claims to gain custody. According to him, the boy was thriving under his care, and he accused Saritha of trying to disrupt their son’s stability by dragging him into the middle of their ongoing legal battle.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer delivered a powerful and emotional statement in response to the case, condemning the act and lamenting how an innocent child was caught in the crossfire of his parents' toxic relationship. “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,” he said. “Instead of wrapping her arms around their 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 motel room, once filled with signs of a joyful vacation — plush toys, souvenirs, and memories of Disneyland — had transformed into a crime scene that told a heartbreaking story of betrayal, despair, and a life stolen too soon.
The case has sparked widespread outrage and sorrow, with many questioning how such a tragedy could occur. Experts have weighed in on the psychological toll that prolonged custody battles can inflict on both parents and children, warning of the dangerous emotional spiral that can result when anger and resentment overshadow the well-being of the child at the center.
As the legal proceedings continue, the community mourns the loss of Yatin — an innocent boy whose life ended in a cruel and senseless act of violence. The courts will now decide whether to accept the prosecution’s case and move forward with a trial or to pursue alternative legal actions based on the presented evidence. For now, the memory of Yatin, once a smiling boy enjoying a trip to Disneyland with his mother, remains frozen in time — a haunting reminder of the fragile, irreplaceable bond between parent and child, and the irreversible consequences when that bond is shattered by rage and despair.
