A Staten Island teenager has been accused of carrying out a gruesome killing that left his mother’s boyfriend decapitated inside their home.
Staten Island teenager slays mom’s boyfriend
Nineteen-year-old Damien Hurstel was taken into custody Tuesday on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Investigators said the young man allegedly stabbed and beheaded 45-year-old Anthony Casalaspro inside their shared residence on Monday afternoon.
Officers responded to a 911 call around 4:30 p.m. after receiving reports of a stabbing.
When they arrived, they found Casalaspro suffering from multiple wounds to his head and neck.
Emergency medical services pronounced him dead at the scene. Police later confirmed that the victim, a retired sanitation worker who had recently lost his vision, had been decapitated.
Sources told investigators that another teenager inside the home discovered the body in the bathtub.
Authorities said the accused killer’s sister returned home around 4 p.m. and noticed blood throughout the residence before finding Casalaspro in the bathroom.
Police sources said Hurstel told his 16-year-old sister, “I did something bad. Go to your room,” moments after she came home from school to discover the gruesome scene.
The teenager immediately called her mother, who rushed to the house and dialed 911.
Neighbor Jennifer Diaz recalled witnessing the chaos that followed. “I just finished cooking when I heard the mom screaming, ‘He’s dead! He’s dead!’” Diaz said.
“I heard sirens so I came out. The mother was out here, hysterically crying. She was throwing up. Then I heard her tell the EMS that ‘The head is in the tub, you don’t need to go in.’”
Diaz said officers quickly arrived as the mother pleaded with them not to harm her son, telling police he had special needs.
“She was standing over there throwing up,” Diaz said, pointing to a nearby driveway. “One of the neighbors came out and brought her water. But the cops wouldn’t let us go near her.”
Police said Hurstel surrendered peacefully with his hands raised. Investigators later revealed the weapon was still lodged in the victim’s body when officers entered the home.
Staten Island teenager suffers from mental illness
The motive remains unclear, but law enforcement sources said Hurstel was being treated for schizophrenia and had no prior criminal record. Both the suspect and the victim lived in the home, police confirmed.
Following his arrest, Hurstel reportedly suffered a medical episode while in custody and was transported from the 120th Precinct to a hospital before his arraignment.
Witnesses described the suspect as wearing a bloodstained white jumpsuit as he was escorted in handcuffs to an ambulance.
Authorities said Hurstel’s mother had made multiple calls to police about Casalaspro in recent years, citing concerns over drinking and violent outbursts.
In one incident from 2021, she reported that her boyfriend was intoxicated and armed, though officers found no weapon.
Another call in August 2023 involved a dispute where Casalaspro allegedly slapped Hurstel and tried to attack the boy’s mother before police intervened.
Longtime resident Hugh Nembhard said the tragedy stunned the quiet block.
“I’m not familiar with the stepson. I never saw him,” Nembhard said. “I saw the father, but never the stepson. I don’t know what to make of this. The neighborhood has changed.”
Victim’s ex-wife may have pointed to motive
Casalaspro’s ex-wife, Valerie Casalaspro, told the Daily News that the victim had recently retired and was planning to move to Florida.
“I literally talked to him two weeks ago. He was doing good. He was talking about getting a house in Florida,” she said. “He had very big plans.”
She added that Hurstel didn’t want to relocate, preferring to remain in New York with his friends.
Valerie said her ex-husband described Hurstel as difficult and defiant. “He told me [Hurstel] was always very angry, no matter what Anthony asked him to do, like, ‘Clean up, do the dishes.’ He always fought with him about it,” she recalled.
“He always would say, ‘You’re not my father, you can’t tell me what to do.’”
According to police sources, Hurstel admitted that he fatally attacked Casalaspro with a meat tenderizer because he wanted to know what it felt like to murder another person.
Investigators said the teen claimed the violence began after an argument with his mother that morning.
When Casalaspro told him to take a walk to calm down, Hurstel allegedly returned home to find his mother gone and turned his anger toward the older man.
Police said Hurstel struck Casalaspro repeatedly in the head with the kitchen tool before attempting to dismember the body.
Sources said Hurstel told investigators he tried to cut the body into pieces with a kitchen knife before retrieving a hand saw from a shed to finish severing the victim’s head.
He allegedly tried to remove Casalaspro’s brain with a hammer but wasn’t able to because his sister returned home.
Investigators said Hurstel intended to destroy the remains by blending them but abandoned the effort when his sibling walked in. Officers recovered several bloodied household tools at the scene.
Hurstel was expected to be arraigned Wednesday morning in Staten Island Criminal Court on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
