Watch CBS News

Karyn Kay, New York teacher and writer, fatally beaten by her son Henry Wachtel, NYPD says

Karyn Kay CBS New York

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - A Manhattan man is expected to be arraigned Wednesday on charges he murdered his mother, a teacher and writer who was found in a New York apartment with severe head trauma.

CBS New York reports that a tearful 19-year-old Henry Wachtel was arrested Tuesday night after investigators said he beat his own mother to death.

Around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Kay called 911 reporting her son was having a seizure, police said. When officers arrived, they found the teacher lying on the ground inside the apartment covered in blood, with a fractured skull and broken eye socket and ribs. She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.

According to The New York Post, neighbors said they could hear 63-year-old Karyn Kay call 911 from her 10th floor apartment for help, with her son wailing in the background.

"Help! Help! He's attacking me! Help!" Kay reportedly screamed.

"He was in the background saying 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I love you," one neighbor said.

Residents in the building said they often heard the mother and son fighting in their apartment and in the elevator.

Kay was a filmmaker and an English teacher at Manhattan's LaGuardia High School. She is also listed as a visiting instructor at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She wrote and produced the feature film, "Call Me."

Police gave no motive for the killing. Investigators also said that Wachtel was taken to Bellevue Hospital at some point for a psychological evaluation.

The investigation is still ongoing.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.