Authorities in Pennsylvania have arrested two teenage squatters suspected of brutally beating a woman to death in an upscale New York apartment.
Halley Tejada, 19, and Kensly Alston, 18, were tracked down and captured by the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force in Philadelphia on Friday morning.
The suspects were on the run following the murder of 52-year-old Nadia Vitels. Police believe the pair were squatting in a Manhattan apartment when Ms. Vitels unexpectedly showed up. The apartment in the well-to-do Kips Bay neighborhood belonged to her deceased mother, and had been vacant for several months. Authorities said the suspects were able to get into the residence by accessing a direct elevator to the 19th floor luxury apartment which, uniquely, does not have a front door.
Ms. Vitels had traveled from Spain to New York to inspect the apartment and to prepare it for the next tenant following her mother’s death, according to reports. Her son became suspicious when she stopped answering his calls and went to the apartment, where her body was found stuffed into a duffel bag inside a closet.
The 52-year-old mother died of blunt force trauma to the head, according to the New York Medical Examiner’s Office. She likely came face-to-face with the intruders on March 12, and had been dead for several days before she was discovered, authorities said.
According to investigators, the suspects were subsequently spotted on surveillance footage going in and out of the building. They were also seen stealing the victim’s Lexus SUV. The pair drove the stolen vehicle to Pennsylvania, but got into an accident and abandoned the car. The alleged killers tried to buy a new vehicle at several car dealerships in Pennsylvania before they were arrested, according to authorities.
It remains unclear what charges the suspects face.
New York State Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz called for major changes in state laws in light of the recent arrests and other similar squatting incidents.
“Squatters are being sought in the murder of a woman who walked in on them living inside her recently deceased mother’s apartment. We must act NOW!” Mr. Blumencranz wrote in a post on Facebook.
The lawmaker introduced a bill that weakens squatters’ rights and protects homeowners and tenants. Under current New York State law, squatters who claim tenancy after being reported to authorities are protected from being immediately arrested for trespassing. Instead, homeowners must take their case to court in order to legally claim their residences back. Furthermore, squatters are allotted certain tenancy rights after just 30 days in a residence.
“My bill would close a glaring loophole in the law and directly combat the squatting crisis that we are currently facing in New York State, and provide meaningful protections to lawful property owners and criminal sanctions for squatters,” Mr. Blumencranz wrote.
Just last month, a group of squatters took over a one-million-dollar home in the New York City borough of Queens. 47-year-old homeowner Adele Andaloro was arrested for unlawful eviction for trying to remove the squatters from the residence, which she inherited from her deceased parents.
Earlier this week, Venezuelan national Leonel Moreno went viral after he encouraged his more than 500,000 TikTok followers to “invade” unoccupied homes in the United States and to invoke squatter’s rights. The influencer bragged in the video about his “African friends” who have “already taken about seven homes.” He also said that the only way for his fellow migrants not to become a “public burden” is to occupy vacant homes.
