Victim Concetta Morton
Torture murder charge a first for the Westchester DA’s Office; defendant also charged with threatening two individuals, physical and sexual assault of two other victims
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced on July 8 that a New Rochelle woman was indicted for murder and for inflicting torture upon 27-year-old Concetta Morton, an intimate partner, prior to her death.
DA Rocah said: “In a first for this Office, we are charging the defendant for not only murder, but also for allegedly acting in an especially cruel manner and inflicting torture upon Ms. Morton before her death. We commend the New Rochelle police for their role in this exhaustive investigation. My Office will seek justice for all of the victims.”
The defendant, Kenya Tilford, 41, was arraigned July 2 before New York State Supreme Court Justice Anne Minihan in Westchester County Court following an 18-count indictment by a Westchester County Grand Jury on the following charges: Murder in the First Degree, Murder in the Second Degree, Strangulation in the First Degree, Concealment of a Human Corpse, Tampering with Physical Evidence, two counts of Intimidating a Victim or a Witness in the Third Degree, Assault in the Second Degree, Unlawful Imprisonment in the First Degree, three counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree, Kidnapping in the First Degree, Attempted Assault in the Second Degree, Strangulation in the Second Degree, and Coercion in the First Degree, all felonies; and Assault in the Third Degree and Menacing in the Second Degree, both misdemeanors.
The defendant remains remanded to Westchester County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court July 16.
It is alleged that the defendant tortured the victim for three months and, ultimately caused her death by asphyxiation before concealing the victim’s body inside a storage bin at her Franklin Avenue apartment. During this period, the defendant was captured on surveillance video purchasing a hooded coverall, bleach, tarps, paper towels, rubber gloves, a chainsaw and the storage bin in which the victim’s body was found.
The defendant is also charged with intimidating one individual, threatening another individual with a knife, physically and sexually assaulting one intimate partner, and sexually assaulting and attempting to physically assault another intimate partner who she also allegedly intimidated.
The New Rochelle Police Department arrested the defendant on Sept. 15, 2023, at an Elmsford hotel after Tarrytown police received a tip about the victim’s deceased body. The Westchester County Medical Examiner and DA Criminal Investigators assigned to the High Technology Crimes Unit and the Violent Criminal Enterprise Unit, and Crime Analyst Alessia Vicari assisted with the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Homicide Bureau Chief Lana Hochheiser and Assistant District Attorney Courtney Johnson, with assistance from Homicide Bureau Senior Trial Counsel Brian Bendish, all of the Trials and Investigations Division.
