Henry Wachtel, accused mom killer on Rx cocktail

                           Henry Wachtel, with defense lawyer Lloyd Epstein,

The teen charged with savagely beating his mother to death is a troubled, heavily medicated epileptic who constantly fought with the woman, sources and neighbors said.

Fordham student Henry Wachtel, 19, was on the epilepsy drugs Keppra and Lamictal, the steroid prednisone, an unnamed anti-depressant and other meds when he pummeled Karyn Kay to death in their Midtown apartment, the sources said.

The teen, wearing a Chicago Bears shirt, sobbed openly before his arraignment on a murder charge in Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday.

Judge Michelle Armstrong ordered Wachtel held without bail, and he’s due back in court Monday.

Kay was beaten to death Tuesday morning while making a 911 call seeking help for Henry, who was having a seizure.

With the operator on the line, Wachtel started punching and kicking her.

Prosecutor Courtney Groves said Kay can be heard on the call screaming, “He’s coming after me! No! No! No!” followed by mother and son grunting in a violent struggle.

After a brief silence, Groves said, Wachtel can be heard shouting, “Mommy, Mommy, please don’t die!”

Cops found Kay on the floor with a broken nose and eye socket and a fractured skull.

“It was a mistake,” a blood-drenched Wachtel told police, the criminal complaint said.

Wachtel’s lawyer, Lloyd Epstein, suggested the teen’s medications played a role in the violence.

“Heavy medications could sometimes have unforeseen circumstances for epileptics,” Epstein said.

Neighbors said Kay, 63 — an English teacher at Manhattan’s famed La Guardia HS — had money woes and fought constantly with her son.

“It’s been a very volatile relationship since Henry was a young boy,” said Leigh Miller, 54, who added that Kay would often yell “I hate you!” at her son.

“It was a very dysfunctional mother-and-child relationship.”

Public records show she had a history of judgments and tax liens for unpaid rent and taxes.

Kay’s ex, Fordham Professor Edward Wachtel, was in court, but declined comment. They divorced in 1998.

Kay’s former students, meanwhile, took to Facebook to share memories.

“From all those kooky, fun times in your class to that outrageous, red hair that made you, you — you will always be missed, Ms. Kay. Rest in peace,” said Julie S. Kim, now a Pace student.