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The 36-year-old woman, bleeding from cuts on her wrists, was found at about 2.45am in the bedroom she shared with her only child in a Toa Payoh four-room flat.
On the mattress, Tan Eu-Jin, 13, was lying unconscious. He had no visible injuries on his body.
The boy's grandparents, who lived with them, found the two in the room and called for an ambulance.
Eu-Jin was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, but died 40 minutes later.
His mother, who relatives said had depression, was taken to the same hospital four hours later, and is hospitalised there under the watch of police officers after they placed her under arrest for murder.
It is not known how the boy died, although police officers were seen picking out tablet wrappers from a rubbish bin linked to the family's flat in Toa Payoh Lorong 2.
Neighbours on the 11th storey of Block 144 woke up yesterday to a buzz of activity as forensic officers and detectives went about their task of finding evidence in the flat.
When the neighbours found out what had happened, they were shocked as mother and child were 'very close' and the family appeared to be a happy one.
A neighbour, Madam Tan Aik Hwa, cried as she spoke about the 'obedient' boy who would call first to ask for permission to go over to her home to play with her sons.
The 47-year-old housewife said: 'We looked out for one another but I never thought this would happen to them.'
Eu-Jin's grandparents, who returned to the flat in the evening after being led away by the police earlier in the day to assist investigations, refused to be interviewed.
But a relative told The Straits Times that the relationship between mother and son was a good one, and added that Eu-Jin had been given many of the latest technological gadgets.
She added that Eu-Jin was his mum's confidant, and that she would talk to him about her problems.
But she said the woman had been plagued by bouts of depression.
She had left her job recently due to pressures at work, the relative said.
'Sometimes, when she had problems, she would bottle it up and lock herself in the room,' she added.
The boy also shared a close bond with his father, who works in the retail industry. Relatives said the couple divorced several years ago.
His father would take him out when he was not overseas on work trips.
The death of Eu-Jin, a Secondary 1 student in St Gabriel's Secondary School, left his classmates in tears.
His teacher was so upset she did not teach yesterday.
