A professor in Long Island, New York, was brutally beheaded by her mentally deranged son, who subsequently took his own life by jumping in front of a train on Tuesday.

Patricia Ward's decapitated body was found dumped in the middle of the street after her son, Derek Ward, 35, stabbed her to death inside of their Farmingdale apartment for no apparent reason.

Patricia Ward's colleagues at the Farmingdale State College SUNY, where she taught language arts for almost three decades, said the 66-year-old assistant professor was much-loved.

"Patricia Ward was a member of the campus for 28 years. She was well-known, well-liked, and well-respected. The campus is a very sad place today," Vice President for Institutional Advancement Patrick Calabria said, according to MailOnline.

Nassau County police Detective Lt. John Azzata said that Derek, who battled psychiatric problems for the past decade, sat for a short period of time with his mother's headless corpse inside of their home, before dragging her body outside around 8 p.m.  

"There were multiple signs of trauma, multiple stab wounds, broken ribs," the detective said at a news conference. "The weapon used was believed to be a knife. That knife was recovered."

Derek then walked three blocks to the Clinton Street, crossing for the Long Island Rail Road and jumped in front of an oncoming eastbound train.

Some neighbors said they initially thought the gruesome killing was part of a Halloween prank.

"Who gets beheaded?" said Barbara Smalls, reports the New York Daily News. "Who does that? You have to be a monster to do that. ... I'm thinking about moving now."

One family member, who asked to remain anonymous, said they were shocked to hear the devastating news.

"This has been a huge shock. You see something like this on TV. You never think it will be your family."