The New Rochelle Police Department reported the following:
On Friday September 15th, 2023, New Rochelle Police received a report that a deceased body was seen in a third-floor apartment of a multifamily home on Franklin Avenue New Rochelle Detectives responded and located a deceased body of a female in her 20’s in the apartment. Detectives quickly developed leads that led to them finding a person of interest who was located in a hotel in Elmsford, NY, who shortly thereafter was taken into custody without incident.
The identity of the deceased is still under investigation but is believed at this time to possibly be a roommate of the person of interest. New Rochelle Detectives are working closely with the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Medical Examiner to determine the identity of the deceased female.
The person of interest, who is the resident of the apartment where the body was found, was soon found to be a suspect in causing the death of the victim and charged as such. Kenya Tilford, 40, of New Rochelle was charged with second degree murder in the killing of her roommate.
Talk of the Sound provided additional details after reviewing the felony complaint. “New Rochelle Police stated Tilford suffocated her roommate on or about September 7th then hid the corpse in her apartment for about a week. Tilford denied killing her roommate, claiming she was in Virginia over the past week. She told police she suffers from mental illness and uses cocaine. During a police interview on Friday, Police confronted Tilford with CCTV video from the Home Depot in New Rochelle where she obtained a hooded coverall, bleach, tarps, a storage bin (in which the body was located), paper towels, rubber gloves and a chainsaw,” writes Robert Cox, Editor of Talk of the Sound.
Tilford is now in the Westchester County Jail
