Mom accused of killing 5-year-old son told police someone else did it, Alaska cops say
A mom called 911 and said someone had killed her 5-year-old son in her apartment in Alaska, police said.
But that wasn’t the case, police said.
Cedar Mae Sarten, 43, called authorities at about 10 a.m. Oct. 14, the Fairbanks Police Department said in a Nov. 4 Facebook post.
She told dispatch her son had been harmed by someone and was dead, police said.
Sarten said she had last seen him alive at about 1 or 2 a.m. as he was falling asleep, police said. She told authorities she tried to call 911 the “previous night but the call would not go through,” according to the release.
Police responded to the apartment and discovered the child dead on his bed. A 20-pound kettlebell weight covered in blood was also found near the bed, police said.
There was also a knife on the bed and another on the floor with “a significant amount of blood throughout the apartment,” police said.
Sarten was found with many lacerations on her wrists, forearms, neck and head that appeared to be self-inflicted wounds, police said.
She was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Initial autopsy results confirmed the child had died from blunt force trauma to his head, police said. He was also found with injuries from a sharp object.
There were no records of a 911 made the night before, police said.
Sarten has been formally charged with first-degree murder in the killing of her child.
As of Nov. 5, she’s still getting medical treatment, police told McClatchy News by email.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 11:56 AM with the headline "Mom accused of killing 5-year-old son told police someone else did it, Alaska cops say."
