ACTON — The Acton teen accused of killing his mother and younger brother inside their Martha Lane home this summer was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on Tuesday after a grand jury returned indictments charging him with two counts of first-degree murder.
Arjun Aravind, 17, was ordered held without bail following his appearance, where prosecutors alleged he killed his mother, Sudha Venkatesan, 45, and his brother, Siddharth Aravind, 14, during a violent assault on Aug. 11.
According to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Acton Police were called to the home at 1 Martha Lane just before 6:40 p.m. by Arjun Aravind’s father, who reported he had been unable to reach his family and that a tutor arriving at the home could not make contact with anyone inside.
Police arrived to find Siddharth Aravind dead on the first floor and Venkatesan dead in the finished basement.
At Arjun Aravind’s Aug. 13 arraignment in Concord District Court, Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Suzanne Wiseman said investigators documented “a violent struggle” and “blunt force trauma” to both victims. Police described extensive biological evidence inside the home, including dried blood on a bathtub, blood drops on the bathroom floor and smeared on a mirror, bloody men’s clothing left on an upper floor and bloody footprints throughout.
Prosecutors said that police determined Arjun Aravind had fled the home in his mother’s 2014 green Honda Accord after the murders. A regional alert was issued, and officers located the vehicle at about 3:30 a.m. Aug. 12 in a Wayland parking lot, where Aravind was taken into custody without incident.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled both deaths to be homicides caused by both blunt and sharp force trauma and mechanical asphyxiation consistent with strangulation.
The investigation allegedly determined that Aravind had recently been exhibiting “concerning behavior,” including using the internet and ChatGPT to search for “theoretical ideas or fantasies regarding killing his family,” according to the DA’s office.
Aravind’s attorney, Debra DeWitt, said on Wednesday that the defense has not yet received key discovery materials, including what investigators recovered from Aravind’s cellphone and ChatGPT history.
“We’re very anxious to look into that in light of what the Commonwealth is alleging,” she said.
DeWitt was previously granted a psychological evaluation for Aravind, who the police said has been diagnosed with autism and was experiencing behavioral issues. She said the evaluation remains ongoing, calling the case “somewhat complicated.”
“Everyone fails to remember that yes, he is charged as an adult with homicide, but he is still a juvenile,” DeWitt said. “It’s a sad situation. The whole process is somewhat overwhelming for him, as you can imagine.”
In addition to two counts of first-degree murder, Aravind was indicted and arraigned on two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and one count of motor vehicle theft.
He is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 27.
Aravind was initially arraigned the day after the killings in Lowell Juvenile Court. Because the primary charge is murder, his case was moved to the standard trial court system.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
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