The apartment where Nadia Vitels, 52, was killed, allegedly by squatters occupying her late mother’s unit. Inset: Vitels. (YouTube screengrabs/WCBS.)
The people behind the murder of a woman who was killed while checking on her late mother’s vacant New York apartment were teenage squatters living there illegally, according to police.
The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force announced the arrests of Halley Tejada and Kensly Alston in York, Pennsylvania. The two murder suspects were taken into custody Friday morning on charges of receiving stolen property, the Marshals Service announcement said.
“The charges stem from a motor vehicle accident that happened on March 13, 2024, when the vehicle that Kensly Alston was driving collided with another vehicle causing an accident in the 5000 block of Jonestown Road, Dauphin County, PA,” the statement said. “It was later discovered that the vehicle belonged to a murder victim out of Kips Bay, NY.”
That murder victim is Nadia Vitels, 52, who is believed to have been killed on or before March 13, 2024, police in Lower Paxton Township said in a statement. Vitels, who had just returned from a trip to Spain, had gone to the apartment, which was owned by her late mother, on March 12 to prepare it for a family friend, the New York Post reported.
After entering the apartment, which is reportedly accessed directly by elevator, Vitels is believed to have stumbled upon the accused killers, who allegedly then beat her to death. They then allegedly fled in her car — a Lexus — driving through New Jersey before reaching Pennsylvania. WNBC reported that the teens were seen on camera leaving the apartment hours after Vitels was seen walking in.
Local NBC affiliate WNBC reported that Vitels was discovered after her son requested a wellness check. The victim’s son reportedly accompanied investigators and the building’s supervisor to the 19th floor apartment.
He is reported to have been the one to discover that his mother had been stuffed into a duffel bag and placed inside one of the apartment’s closets. According to the New York Post, the bag had been covered by a coat, but a foot was visibly sticking out.
Vitels’ body was found in the bag, the New York Post reported. She apparently suffered blunt force trauma to the head, multiple facial fractures, a brain bleed, and two broken ribs.
Tejada is 19 years old, and Alston is 18, New York Post reported, citing police sources.
Alston was reportedly behind the wheel at the time of the crash that landed the defendants on law enforcement’s radar. She allegedly gave officers a false name and date of birth.
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