Friday, April 19, 2024 – Two teenagers allegedly killed a mother who found them squatting and stuffed her body in a duffel bag in a 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.”
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