Mother accused of chaining son to bed after argument about drug money

PHOENIX (KPHO/Gray News) - Police say a Phoenix mother chained her son to a bed after he threatened to hurt his siblings if she didn’t give him money for drugs.

Officers responded to a home Sunday after a man called 911 and said his mother, 33-year-old Meilin Maradiaga, chained him up, investigators said.

Police arrived and found Maradiaga, who took officers to the backyard, and found the son in a separate bedroom chained to a bunk bed by his ankle, court paperwork says. Maradiaga gave officers the key, and the son was unchained. She was then taken into custody, KPHO reports.

In an interview with detectives, Maradiaga said she began arguing with her son after he asked her for money to buy fentanyl pills, police said. He claimed he needed to repay his dealer because he had smoked earlier that day.

Court documents say his mother refused, and he threatened to damage her car and hurt his younger siblings unless she gave him money. He began to walk toward his siblings when Maradiaga grabbed him, and a struggle broke out. The son then began slamming his head on the ground and started talking about suicide, investigators said.

Court documents say Maradiaga asked her brother to help restrain her son, and the two tied his hands and feet together. She claimed she was going to chain him to the bed for his and the family’s safety, police said. He initially agreed but then decided he wanted to leave. She refused to let him go, and court paperwork states that he was chained for six to seven hours.

Maradiaga said she refused to release her son because she feared he might overdose, kill himself or hurt others. She was booked on one count of unlawful imprisonment.