Gaylord M. Surratt, a 52-year-old white male, was discovered dead inside his La Vista, Nebraska home on the afternoon of December 24, 2014, after a neighbor whoï d stopped by with Christmas cookies looked through the door, saw him on the floor, and called 911 around 2:30 p.m. Responding officers found Surratt with an apparent gunshot wound to the head; a handgun was recovered at the scene.
His 79-year-old mother, Rona Surratt, was also inside the house with injuries consistent with a gunshot wound and was transported to CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center for treatment.
In the days that followed, the Sarpy County Attorneyï s Office released its findings. Based on scene evidence and forensic processing, investigators concluded that Gaylord Surratt shot his mother in the hallwayï she fell and suffered a skull fracture from the gunshotï then went into the living room and fatally shot himself. With the determination of murder-suicide, the case was closed and no criminal charges were filed.
Early coverage noted the case as a suspicious death while police awaited forensic results, but no outside suspect was ever named. Memorial listings for Surratt record his death on December 24, 2014, in La Vista, and local reporting ultimately affirmed there were no arrests because authorities deemed the incident a murder-suicide.
