WEST BRIGHTON, Staten Island (WABC) — A 19-year-old man is facing charges after his 45-year-old stepfather was found stabbed to death on Staten Island.
Damien Hurstel is charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Officials say police received a call for a person stabbed at 380 Cary Ave. in the West Brighton section just before 4:30 p.m. Monday.
When officers arrived, they discovered the 45-year-old victim in the bathtub with multiple stab wounds to his head and neck.
The victim was pronounced dead. Police identified him as 45-year-old Anthony Casalaspro.
“This whole world is upside down. This is like a terrible, horrible, to do this to a person you know not even to an animal, you don’t do that,” a neighbor said.
That’s when Hurstel was taken into custody.
Police say the stepson’s sister walked into the home around 4 p.m. and found blood in rooms throughout the home. She then discovered the victim in the bathtub.
According to police sources, the victim wasn’t just stabbed, but decapitated, with the knife still in the body of the victim when police arrived on the scene
They say it’s unclear what led to the violent stabbing. Hurstel has no prior arrests.
Hugh Nembhard told Eyewitness News that he has lived across the street for some 60 years.
“I’m not familiar with the stepson. I never saw him. I saw the father, but never the stepson,” he said. “I don’t know what to make of it. I don’t know what to make of this. This is a shock to me. The neighborhood has changed.”
Police said Hurstel may have a history of mental illness.
The investigation is ongoing.
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