WARNING: Some details in this article are hard to read.
OCEAN CITY – A city man was charged with first-degree murder after he allegedly decapitated his mother and tossed her head into the hallway outside the apartment where he lived.
An affidavit of probable cause states Jeffrey D. Surgent, 46, of 6th Street, called 911 at 3:58 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 8, and said he was bipolar and had just killed his mother.
The Ocean City Police Department said it received a call from a man who identified himself as Surgent and dispatched officers to an apartment building in the 600 block of 6th Street. There they found Surgent nude in the hallway lying on top of a headless body; they found the head several feet away in the same hallway.
Police placed Surgent in handcuffs and the apartment was cleared for safety. According to the affidavit, Surgent screamed over and over that he had killed his mother and he was sorry, followed by singing, “Jesus Loves Me.”
The affidavit says police reviewed surveillance video from the Housing Authority showing a human head coming out of an apartment at a high rate of speed, striking a wall and landing where it was found by police. The video then shows Surgent peeking out of the doorway and then dragging his mother’s body out into the hall, where he lay on top of it and waited for the police to arrive. Surgent was described as being covered with blood.
The victim was identified as Alexandri M. Surgent, 74, who resided on Central Avenue in Ocean City.
Surgent was described in the police report as having a history of mental illness. He has been charged with first-degree murder, fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
According to a press release from the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, Surgent was taken under police custody to a secure medical facility.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
