Tensions had been brewing for several days inside the home at 1924 Sheffield Court in Oldsmar, according to Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Elizabeth Brady.
Christian Jose Gomez, 23, was jealous of his older brother, Mario Gomez, because he felt their mother, Maria Suarez-Cassagne, 48, was giving him more attention, said Brady,
Then Suarez-Cassagne began asking her youngest son to move some boxes in the attic.
On New Year’s Eve, the three ,along with a 16-year-old sister, sat down for what would be Suarez-Cassagne’s last meal. Hours later, her decapitated body was found outside the house, her head inside a garbage can. Deputies say Christian Gomez later acknowledged killing his mother with an ax.
After the four ate dinner, the sister went to work and Mario Gomez, 27, took a nap.
Mario Gomez told investigators he heard a noise, but thought it was his younger brother moving the boxes as requested.
A while later, Mario Gomez woke up, Brady said, and when he didn’t see anyone, he went looking for his mother and brother. When he went around to the side of the house, he found his mother’s body near the garbage can, Brady said, and at 7:22 p.m. he called 911, saying his brother had cut his mom’s head off and fled.
When deputies arrived on the scene, they met Mario Gomez in front of the residence, then went inside to make sure there was nobody there, according to a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office media release.
They looked outside and saw Suarez-Cassagne’s body, Brady said. They found her head in the garbage can. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri called it a gruesome crime scene, Brady said, with a lot of blood.
Deputies then set up a perimeter in the area to find Christian Gomez.
Shortly before 8 p.m., someone called 911 and reported seeing a suspicious person riding a bicycle near 1802 Driftwood Circle, about three blocks east of the crime scene, according to deputies. When they arrived, deputies tried to stop the person, who then tried to run away. After a short chase, he was apprehended.
Deputies said during his interview he admitted to killing his mother, attacking her in the home’s garage and striking her several times with the ax before dragging her body out of the garage toward the garbage cans. He tried to stuff the body in a garbage can, but it wouldn’t fit, Brady said, so he placed only his mother’s head in the can.
The ax has been recovered, deputies said.
Christian Gomez faces a first-degree murder charge. He was taken to the Pinellas County Jail with no bail set.
The investigation is ongoing.