QC mom sees ‘demon,’ kills 2-year-old son

A 21-year-old woman was arrested in Quezon City for allegedly strangling her 2-year-old son and wrapping his body in a native sleeping mat before dawn on Saturday.

The killing was reported by Edith Garalde of Tikling Street, Barangay Commonwealth, who said her apparently mentally disturbed relative, Melanie Ala, killed the boy inside Garalde’s home.

PO2 Johnny Mahilum said the young mother later admitted to police that she choked her son to death “for the good of everyone” and that she did it “to save him.”

Garalde recalled seeing Ala acting strangely the night before and angrily telling her son in Filipino: “Get away from me, demon!”

The mother and son were then taking shelter at the Garalde residence after leaving the house of Ala’s in-laws in Pampanga. Julie M. Aurelio