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Gerardo Ruiz was sentenced on Friday, Dec. 9 for aggravated manslaughter in the death of Alecia Perreault, 29, also of Seaside Heights, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
On May 1, 2021, at approximately 7:30 a.m., Seaside Heights Police received a telephone call from an individual claiming to have knowledge that Ruiz killed a woman at the Offshore Motel in Seaside Heights, Billhimer said. The caller further advised that Ruiz was staying at the Surfside Motel in Seaside Heights. Officers responded to a room at the Offshore Motel, where they located the body of Perreault with apparent stab wounds to her neck, the prosecutor said. Perreault was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers subsequently responded to Ruiz’s room at the Surfside Motel, and discovered that he had experienced an apparent drug overdose. Ruiz was transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River.
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 Perreault’s death.
Since being released from Community Medical Center, Ruiz has been detained in a secure medical facility.
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