Amber James, the mother who killed her nine-year-old son on Halloween, says she prayed, thought about it, and cried before she strangled him to death to “save” him.

James, who admitted to strangling her son Ryan Rosales, had cloves of garlic, two lighters, and a small vial of “holy water” upon her arrest, according to news station KCPQ.

She told the detective she used the water to “say a prayer for my baby.”

I can’t imagine that prayer. She obviously wasn’t praying for his health and happiness.

James was compelled to kill her son by what looks to be a combination of mental illness and false beliefs, religious and non-religious alike. In addition to her holy water and prayer, police found “God is coming” (among other things) written on her wall.

Detectives said there were writings on the wall including the words: “Harvest,” “Spaywar,” “Greed kills,” “sex trade,” “God is coming,” “No pedo,” and “Michael=Devil.” James told detectives she had been watching conspiracy videos on YouTube related to politics and chemtrails, and thought she was being followed.

James’ paranoia, which was likely caused by a psychological disorder and exacerbated by religion and conspiracy videos, went so deep that earlier that week she called 911 earlier that same week saying she was being followed by people in cars and airplanes. In fact, she says she murdered her son to “save him” from these mysterious people/demons.

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.

Her belief that someone was following them was likely what precipitated this murder, but the belief in an afterlife and that “God is coming” certainly didn’t help. If she didn’t think he was going to go to a better place, then it’s likely she wouldn’t have considered his death better than being followed by unknown attacks.

If there’s anything that is clear from this case, it’s that religion and certain mental illnesses don’t mix. According to Schizophrenia.com, seriously mentally ill people who are also extremely religious tend to see psychological issues as spiritual issues, making them much less likely to seek help from health care professionals.

This is a problem that needs to be addressed, so we can keep tragedies like this from happening in the future.

