Seaside Heights, NJ, Man Pleads Guilty to 2021 Motel Death

A man from Seaside Heights has pleaded guilty in connection to the death of a woman at a motel last year.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer says 51-year-old Gerardo RuizGerardo Ruiz now faces 35 years in state prison on an aggravated manslaughter charge.

According to authorities, on the morning of May 1, 2021, Seaside Heights Police received a call from a person claiming to have knowledge that Ruiz killed a woman at the Offshore Motel in Seaside Heights.

Officers responded to a room at that motel and found the body of 29-year-old Alecia Perreault of Seaside Heights, "with apparent wounds to her neck." Perreault was pronounced dead at the scene."

Authorities then responded to Ruiz's room at a different motel in the borough and discovered that he had experienced an apparent drug overdose. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment.

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An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, and Seaside Heights Police Department Detective Bureau, determined that Ruiz was the individual responsible for Ms. Perreault’s death.

Billhimer acknowledged the diligent efforts of his office, the Seaside Heights Police Department, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office for their combined efforts in this investigation.