Credit: Inside The MagicA Disneyland Resort guest allegedly stabbed her son to death after a recent visit to the Happiest Place on Earth, as per local officials.
According to news releases from the Santa Ana Police Department and the Orange County District Attorney, a 48-year-old mother has been charged with murdering her 11-year-old son after the family took a trip to the iconic Southern California theme park resort.
Mother Claims to Have Stabbed Child After Visiting Disneyland
Saritha Ramaraju was arrested after calling the Santa Ana Police Department on March 19, 2025, at approximately 9.12 a.m. Ramaraju claimed to have stabbed and killed her son, Yatin Ramaraju, in a room at the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Santa Ana, as well as taking pills in a suicide attempt.
When officers arrived, they discovered an unresponsive 11-year-old boy – who was later pronounced dead – unresponsive and surrounded by Disneyland merchandise. Police also found a kitchen knife on the scene.
“It appeared the boy had been dead for several hours before his mother called 911,” the Orange County District Attorney said.
Ramaraju was detained in the hallway and transported to a hospital for evaluation before being discharged the next day and booked into the Santa Ana Jail. She has been charged with one felony count of murder, along with a felony enhancement for the personal use of a knife. If convicted on all charges, she faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life.
Before the incident, Ramaraju, who left California after her 2018 divorce, had returned to Santa Ana for a court-approved custody visit with her son. They had been staying at the La Quinta Inn on Hotel Terrace, where she purchased three-day Disneyland passes for the visit.
“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,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “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 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.”
Past Incidents in the Area
This isn’t the first death reported in the Disneyland area. Two arrests were made in December following the discovery of a deceased man in a car near the Disneyland Resort.
Officers had responded at around 9 p.m. one evening when they discovered unresponsive 25-year-old Kenneth Swets suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Medical experts working with the Orange County Fire Authority responded quickly, declaring 25-year-old Swets dead at the scene.
Back in the 1980s, a teenager was fatally stabbed at Disneyland Park itself. Mel C. Yorba was fatally stabbed in the chest at the age of 18 during a fight in Tomorrowland. The incident occurred during a private party, marking the park’s first homicide. Six years later, a 15-year-old boy was fatally shot in the Disneyland Resort parking lot during an early-morning confrontation between rival gangs.