Teen squatters who killed homeowner after she discovered them at her home are identified
Two teenagers allegedly killed a mother who found them squatting in her apartment. They stuffed her body in a duffel bag in the New York City apartment.
Kensly Alston, 18, and Halley Tejada, 19, are accused of murdering Nadia Vitels, 52, who discovered the intruders inside her late mother’s Manhattan apartment.
Vitels’ body was found in a bag in the closet of her mom’s 19th-floor apartment with blunt force injuries to her head, a brain injury, two broken ribs and several fractures, according to police.
On March 10, Vitels dropped off items at the apartment on East 31st Street to prepare it for relatives to stay there, said authorities.
Shortly after, Alston and Tejada were captured on CCTV walking in the lobby of the building and broke in to squat there.
Two days later, Vitels returned to the unit and discovered the intruders and demanded them to leave.
Tejada shouted that he was going to kill her, said prosecutors. Vitels ran for a window but Tejada allegedly grabbed her and threw her, then stomped her to death.
Prosecutors alleged that Alston told Tejada during the brutal attack: “You should put your shoes on. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
The teens then allegedly used Vitels’ credit card to buy vaping items and toiletries at a Target and fled in her Lexus SUV.
On March 14, Vitels’ 23-year-old son reached out to police to do a welfare check on the apartment after receiving a text from her that would be her last.
Responding cops found her dead body stuffed in a duffel bag.
The teens drove Vitels’ vehicle to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where they bought a diamond ring, AirPods, a PS5 system, clothes and food, said prosecutors.
They crashed the SUV in Lower Paxton Township and were arrested at a home on March 22.
Both were extradited from Pennsylvania to New York and were charged with murder on Thursday, April 18.
Tejada sobbed while hugging his father before being led into a Manhattan courtroom in handcuffs.
Alston, from the Bronx, and Tejada, from Washington Heights, are both being held without bail pending their next court appearances.
The apartment had been vacant for several months since Vitels’ mother died, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.
“Kensly Alston and Halley Tejada allegedly murdered Nadia Vitels in her own apartment while she was moving in to start a new chapter in her life,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
“I send my deepest condolences to her friends and family as they continue to mourn her loss. My office will secure justice for Nadia Vitels.”
