The woman found murdered in Oldsmar on New Year's Eve was decapitated by her son with an ax, authorities said Thursday.
Maria Suarez-Cassagne, 48, was found dead by another son Wednesday night and called authorities.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Christian Gomez attacked Cassagne after becoming upset when she asked him to put away some boxes.
"He was upset because his mother for the last couple of days had been trying to get him to put these boxes in the attic," Gualtieri said.
He put her head in a trash can and tried to stuff the rest of her body in a trash can, the sheriff said. The body wouldn't fit, so Gomez dragged it outside Cassagne's home at 1924 Sheffield Court.
Gomez has about 30 arrests in Pinellas County and a history of mental illness, Gualtieri said.
His older brother, Mario, found the body and called authorities.
When they arrived around 7:30 p.m., they found the body outside and learned that Christian Gomez had just left the home on a bicycle. They arrested him a few blocks away and charged him with first degree murder.
Gualtieri said Gomez admitted to the murder and had been planning it for the last two days.
"And because he was mad at her, over her request to put these boxes in the attic, he planned her murder for two days," Gualtieri said.
"When I saw his eyes, I have a gut feeling and, my gate, I close it," said neighbor Despina Charistodolou.
Gualtieri said talking with Gomez was disturbing.
"He was talking as we're talking now, and in a very calm cool way he explained what he did and why he did it and what happened," Gualtieri said. "By talking to him, you wouldn't think that he had any mental illness at all. That's very scary."
The murder weapon, an ax, was recovered.
Christian has been charged with first degree murder and was booked into the Pinellas County Jail.