Squatter Murdered Woman, Stuffed Her Body in Duffel Bag, Then Bought PlayStation With Her Credit Card. Now He Learns Fate

Halley Tejada, one of two people police said were squatting in the unit, pleaded guilty in the 2024 killing of 52-year-old Nadia Vitels

NEED TO KNOW

  • Halley Tejada was sentenced April 14, 2026, to 20 years to life after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the killing of Nadia Vitels
  • Police said Tejada and co-defendant Kensly Alston had been squatting in the apartment
  • Vitels, 52, was found dead inside a duffel bag in her Manhattan apartment in March 2024

A man accused of killing a New York City woman whose body was found stuffed inside a duffel bag in her apartment has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

Halley Tejada was sentenced in Manhattan Supreme Court after pleading guilty to second-degree murder on Dec. 17, 2025, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

“Nadia Vitels was about to start a new chapter of her life when Halley Tejada brutally murdered her in the very apartment she was moving into,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. “Halley Tejada has been sentenced to a sentence of 20-years-to-life in state prison for his abhorrent and fatal conduct.”…

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