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Ryan Rosales Murder: Mother Reportedly Admits To Strangling 9-Year-Old Son To Death On Halloween After Praying

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 11:49 PST, Nov 2, 2017

A Washington State community is reeling and a mother is behind bars after reportedly confessing to police that she strangled her 9-year-old son to death on Halloween. The devastating tale of murder and possible mental illness unfolded in central Kitsap County in the early morning hours of October 31 and involved 9-year-old Ryan Rosales and his mother, 47-year-old Amber Lynn James. As Fox KCPQ reports, police were called to the family home just after 6:00 a.m. by Ryan Rosales’ father, who had discovered his son not breathing.

According to Kitsap County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Wilson, first responders arrived at the home on Halloween morning to discover that the child had been the victim of “obvious homicidal violence.” The child’s father told investigators that he became aware of his son’s condition when he got out of the shower and “smelled gas” in the home. He claims to have gone into the kitchen to find that “all four burners on the stove were on with the caps taken off.” When he confronted his son’s mother, he says she denied turning on the gas. It was then that Ryan Rosales’ father says he noticed that Amber James had scratches on her neck.

After opening the homes’ windows to vent the gas, Ryan Rosales’ father went to check on his son, only to find the 9-year-old cold, with blue lips and “red spots all over his face.” He immediately called 911 and attempted to revive his son while he waited for first responders to arrive. Unfortunately, neither EMTs nor his father was able to revive Ryan, and the 9-year-old died at his rural Washington home on Halloween.

After paramedics were unable to resuscitate Ryan, court documents indicate that they called in deputies to deal with the “suspicious situation” of the 9-year-old’s death. As WPEG 3 reports, responding officers detained Amber James at the scene and took her to the local sheriff’s office to be interrogated immediately following her son’s Halloween death.

“This was a situation that needed to be turned over to detectives because there was just something about the situation that did not look right.”

At the scene of his death, Ryan Rosales’ mother was found to have lighters, garlic cloves, and a small container of holy water on her person. According to court documents, Amber James had called 911 earlier in the week to complain that she was being followed by strangers in airplanes and vehicles. She reportedly told investigators on the morning of her son’s death that she had been carrying holy water to pray for Ryan.

Court documents also allege that the walls of the family home were covered with disturbing writing, including the keywords: “Harvest,” “Spaywar,” “Greed kills,” “sex trade,” “God is coming,” “No pedo,” and “Michael=Devil.” Detectives further allege that Amber James admitted to investigators that she had been spending her time watching conspiracy videos on YouTube and that she truly believed that she was being stalked by unknown persons.

After being interrogated, the mother of Ryan Rosales was taken to a local hospital to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and for treatment of her neck injuries. It was then that James reportedly confessed to Deputy Trout that she had strangled her son on Halloween morning. She reportedly claimed to have thought and prayed about her decision to kill her son before deliberately taking his life.

“While at the hospital and unsolicited by Deputy Trout, Amber told Deputy Trout that she needed to save her son from people that were after us, needed to protect him. She had described (the boy) as the best kid in the world. She stated she had prayed, thought about it, cried and then put her hands around his throat so he couldn’t breathe any longer. Amber then asked Deputy Trout, how do I explain to someone why I just… killed my kid? What is a good explanation of that? I killed my… kid.”

According to Deputy Trout, Amber James didn’t appear to be emotional about the murder, and she didn’t cry when she allegedly confessed to the crime. Court records indicate that James has been treated with medication for anxiety, but that she had not previously been diagnosed with any more severe mental health disorders.

After being evaluated, treated, and released from the hospital, Amber James was booked into the Kitsap County Jail in connection with 9-year-old Ryan Rosales’ Halloween morning death. The Washington State mother appeared in court on Wednesday; she is facing one second-degree murder charge, and her bail has been set at $1 million. She is expected to be officially arraigned on Friday. A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help Ryan’s father raise money for his funeral expenses.

[Featured Image by carl ballou/Shutterstock]

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