Metro

NY woman tortured ‘intimate’ gal pal for months before she strangled her and stashed body: DA

A Westchester County woman is charged with the months-long “cruel and wanton” torture of her partner before strangling her — and stashing her body in a storage bin, prosecutors said Monday.

Kenya Tilford, 41, also sexually abused and threatened two other intimate partners before she was nabbed in a hotel by cops last year, Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah announced.

Tilford is charged with the September murder of 27-year-old Concetta Morton in New Rochelle.

Murder victim Concetta Morton.
Prosecutors said Concetta Morton was tortured for three months before she was strangled by her partner. Clark & Giordano Funeral Home Inc.

“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,” Rocah said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Tilford spent three months torturing the victim inside her Franklin Avenue apartment before strangling her — then went on a shopping spree to pick up bleach, rubber gloves, tarps and a chainsaw after stashing the body in a storage bin in the apartment.

She was busted on Sept. 15 while hiding out at a hotel in Elmsford after cops got a tip about the body.

According to an eight-count indictment filed against Tilford, she tortured Morton between June 1 and Sept. 14, 2023, “in an especially cruel and wanton manner,” although no details were provided.

The indictment charges her with first- and second-degree murder, first-degree strangulation, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence in Morton’s death.

New Rochelle murder scene.
Kenya Tilford is charged with torturing Concetta Morton for three months before strangling her and dumping her body in a bin in her New Rochelle apartment, according to Westchester County prosecutors. Jonathan Bandler/lohud / USA TODAY NETWORK

Tilford is also charged with kidnapping, intimidating a victim or witness, third-degree assault, menacing, unlawful imprisonment, aggravated sexual abuse and coercion against the other partners.

She is being held without bail at the Westchester County Jail pending a return to court on July 16.