PORT ORCHARD, Wash. (AP) — A 47-year-old woman who authorities say exhibited signs of mental distress was charged Wednesday with murder in the death of her 9-year-old son northeast of Bremerton.
Amber Lynn James was charged in Kitsap County Superior Court with second-degree murder, the Kitsap Sun reports .
At about 7 a.m. Tuesday authorities responded to a home on Symes Road when the boy’s father called to report his son was not breathing, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.
Despite CPR being performed, the boy was pronounced dead, authorities said.
James was at the house and agreed to talk with investigators, according to court documents. She also was taken to a hospital for a mental and physical evaluation. At the hospital, James allegedly told a deputy, unprompted, that she killed the boy, documents said.
She also allegedly told investigators she believed she was being followed and that she had recently been watching conspiracy-type videos, which detectives noted appeared to have created some anxiety for her, according to court documents.
The woman reportedly told a deputy that she needed to protect her son, documents said.
“She stated she prayed, thought about it, cried and then put her hands around his throat so he couldn’t breathe any longer,” a Kitsap County Sheriff’s detective wrote in a court affidavit.
James remains in Kitsap County jail with bail set at $1 million.
It wasn’t immediately clear if she had an attorney.