Seaside Heights Man Charged In Killing Of Woman At Motel

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — A Seaside Heights man has been charged with murder in the death of a woman early Saturday in a Seaside Heights motel, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Monday.

Gerardo Ruiz, 50, is charged in the death of Alecia Perreault, 29, at the Offshore Motel in Seaside Heights, Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said.

Seaside Heights police received a call about 7:30 a.m. Saturday from a person who claimed Ruiz had killed a woman at the motel, and that Ruiz was staying at the Surfside Motel, Billhimer said.

Police found Perreault's body in a room at the Offshore Motel, and she had wounds the prosecutor's office said were "apparent;" authorities did not describe them further. Perreault was pronounced dead at the scene, Billhimer said.

Police then went to Ruiz's room at the Surfside Motel and found he had overdosed; he was taken to an unnamed medical facility where he was in serious but stable condition and is in protective custody of the Ocean County Sheriff's Department, Billhimer said.

The investigation by the prosecutor's Major Crime Unit, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department and Seaside Heights detectives determined Ruiz was responsible for Perreault's death, Billhimer said.

The Ocean County Medical Examiner has ruled her death a homicide "but the cause and manner are currently pending further testing," he said.

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