Mom stabs 11-year-old to death in hotel room, then calls 911, California cops say

A mom was arrested after calling 911 to say she killed her 11-year-old son, California officials said.

On March 19, a woman called Santa Ana officers and reported that she had killed her son, according to a Facebook post by the police department.

“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,” hotel guest Alyssah Witherell told KTLA.

Officers arrived at La Quinta Inn and took the mother into custody before transporting her to the hospital, where she remains in stable condition, after she ingested an unknown substance, officials said.

Officers found the boy dead on a bed, officials told KABC.

Inside the hotel room, officers found a knife, which “is believed to be the weapon used in the crime,” officials said.

Police didn’t say what led to the fatal stabbing.

The investigation remains ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to call Santa Ana police at 714-245-8700, officials said.

Santa Ana is about a 30-mile drive southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Mom stabs 11-year-old to death in hotel room, then calls 911, California cops say."