Arizona man admitted to decapitating his mother before her surprise party, police say

An Arizona man is facing a murder charge after authorities say he decapitated his mother before her own surprise birthday party on Friday.

The woman was supposed to go to a family gathering to celebrate her birthday, but she never showed, Sgt. Bryan Hoskin with the Glendale Police Department said at a press conference Monday afternoon.

A person called police around 11:41 p.m. Friday night and said a family member inside a home in Glendale, about 10 miles northwest of Phoenix, had been decapitated, Hoskin said.

When officers arrived, they found the front door to the small apartment open. The shower was running and there was blood in the area, Hoskin said. Officers also found the victim, 49-year-old Teresa De Jesus Cruz Rubio, underneath a blanket. 

The victim had stab wounds to her abdomen, chest and arms, authorities said.

Officers searched the home to see if anyone else was inside and in the kitchen sink, they saw a knife block and several knives, Hoskin said. 

Investigators said they found that one of the knives in the kitchen sink had hair and blood on it and it looked as if someone had tried to clean the knives.

Victim’s son had just been released from jail, police say

Hoskin said the victim’s sister last spoke to the victim at about 3:40 p.m. Friday. When Rubio didn’t show, her family was worried and tried to get into the house. 

“The doors were locked,” Hoskin said. “The windows were locked. There was no sign of forced entry.”

Just before 11:30 p.m., a local locksmith helped the victim’s family get into the house, where they found her dead and called police.

The victim’s sister had previously let her drive a burgundy GMC Yukon SUV and the family noticed the vehicle wasn’t at the home, Hoskin said. He added that the victim's son, 25-year-old Alejandro Gonzalez, lived with the victim and was recently released from jail on “an unrelated matter” with another agency.

Gonzalez has “mental conditions,” Hoskin said. He later added that family members talked to detectives about his mental illness.

Family members also told police that the suspect was capable of killing his mom, reported the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY network.

Detectives say they used missing vehicle to find suspect

Detectives working the case looked at video surveillance and traffic cameras in the area, noting that the GMC Yukon was seen in the area between 4:50 p.m. and 5 p.m., Hoskin said. The victim’s son was driving the vehicle but never returned to the apartment.

Investigators entered the GMC Yukon into a database as a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was found in a gas station parking lot, the Arizona Republic reported. 

Detectives began watching the car and the surrounding area and saw Gonzalez going to and from the vehicle, Hoskin said. He was taken into custody at around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday.

“They noticed that he had evidence of blood on his body and clothes, along with injuries to his hands and arms,” Hoskin said.

When detectives interviewed the man, he admitted to stabbing his mother and “claimed to have cut her head off from her body,” Hoskin said.

According to the Arizona Republic, Gonzalez told investigators his mom picked him up from jail and dropped him off at her house. He told investigators he'd smoked methamphetamines with a Black man who was riding a bike in the neighborhood. 

Gonzalez told investigators the man "did something to his mom" and then "had me stab her or something," the outlet reported.

According to Gonzalez, the man told him "she won't feel anything."

“No evidence pointed to this as the detectives looked through the scene and all the evidence that they collected,” Hoskin said at the press conference. “The investigation is ongoing and they are looking into these claims of another suspect.”

Gonzalez was booked into the county jail system for premeditated murder in the first degree, a felony, as well as theft of means of transportation, Hoskin said.

Hoskin called the decapitation “horrific” for the family members who found the victim, as well as the detectives investigating.

“It’s horrific and traumatic to people who live in the area, worried about what kind of crimes are happening in the community,” he said.

Jose Santiago, media manager for the police department, said he thinks Gonzalez had only been released for 24 hours when he decapitated his mother.

The police department is providing mental health resources to employees working the case. The department also has the Glendale Family Advocacy Center, which works with victims and their families, Santiago said.

Gonzalez is being held on a cash bond of $1 million, the Arizona Republic reported. 

Contributing: Lauren De Young and Skylar Heisey, The Arizona Republic

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her atsdmartin@usatoday.com.