Christian Jose Gomez, a 23-year-old suffering from schizophrenia, was arrested on Thursday, after confessing to decapitating his mother with an axe.

Florida Man Decapitates Mother

Gomez was arrested and charged for killing his mother, Maria Suarez-Cassagne on New Year’s Eve after Gomez’s older brother, Mario Gomez, 26, discovered his mother’s body around 7 p.m.

Gomez reportedly told police that he had hit his mother on the head with an axe earlier that day because she was “nagging” him to clean up some boxes in the attic of their Oldsmar, Florida, home.

“He was upset because his mother, for the last couple of days, had been trying to get him to put these boxes in the attic. And because he was upset with her…he planned her murder for two days,” Pinellas County Sherriff Bob Gualtieri told local news WFLA.

Gomez cut off his mother’s head in the garage after hitting her over the head with the axe and then dumped her head in the garbage. It’s unclear what, exactly, killed Suarez-Cassagne – whether it was the blow to the head or the decapitation. He allegedly tried to drag her body to the trash, but it was too heavy, and so Gomez left it by the trashcans.

WFLA News Channel 8

“[Mario Gomez] went to the garage, he found an axe laying on the floor. He found a blood trail and he followed that outside to the side of the house and when he went outside, he found his mother laying there on the ground next to a trash can, and unfortunately his mother had been decapitated, so he immediately called the sheriff’s office,” said Gualtieri.

Gomez has a history of run-ins with the law and has prior arrests for loitering and disorderly conduct. According to reports, Gomez was prescribed medications for his schizophrenia, but it’s unclear whether or not he was taking them at the time of the crime, or what role his mental illness will play in the court proceedings following his arrest.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.