7-Year-Old Boy Made Chilling 6-Word Prediction Before His Mom Strangled Him to Death, Court Documents Show

A young boy predicted his fate by telling a family member that he would soon die because his mother would kill him. The 7-year-old boy was constantly scared that his mother would suffocate him to death. Nathaniel Burton, a 7-year-old boy, predicted that he would soon die at the hands of his mother. He also told his grandmother that “Mama is going to kill me.”

Burton had mentioned several times that his mother had tried to hold pillows or couch cushions over his head while he was sleeping or playing in the house. These instances were mentioned before he died in February 2021. Burton, while talking to his grandmother, said, “I can’t breathe, Grandma, she won’t let me breathe,” as reported by the Mirror.

Burton made these statements about his mother, identified as Sarah Safranek, 38, according to court documents and Ogle County prosecutors in Illinois. Burton died in February 2021 as a result of suffocation, as he had predicted and feared.

While speaking to authorities, Burton’s grandmother, with whom he had stayed earlier, told police that the boy came to her about “two months prior” to his murder and said his mom had “come into his bedroom and put a pillow over his head while he was sleeping, " according to court documents.

Burton’s maternal grandmother also reported similar statements that Burton made about his mother, including allegations that Safranek tried to drown him in a bathtub.

Burton repeatedly told her that he was worried his mother would suffocate him, according to the prosecutor. Burton’s sister also described seeing Safranek “choke him and hit him with a belt,” according to authorities.

Burton’s foster parents, with whom he had lived for months, said that when Burton was 5, he described several incidents. His foster mother said that once the boy told her, “he was kneeling by the couch with the cushion off and playing with toy cars when Safranek threw the cushion over him, sat on it, and would not get off, " according to court documents.

Safranek suffocated her son on February 17, 2021. Burton was then taken to the hospital, where he died the next day.

An investigation found substantial evidence implicating Safranek. Investigators also discovered disturbing internet searches and journal entries “reflecting that she hurt her kids,” according to the prosecutor. One of the searches made by Safranek included “what is it called when a parent is obsessed with the thought of killing their child.