Two teens arrested for alleged murder of woman who discovered them squatting in her deceased mother’s NYC apartment

Vitel, who had traveled from Spain to clean out her late mother's apartment, found the teenage squatters living in the apartment. After Vital walked in on them, an altercation ensued, and Vitel was allegedly thrown by the teens into a sheetrock wall.

"We believe that some squatters took the apartment over and this woman came home… and walked in on the squatters that were there," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

Later, when Vitel's son could not reach her, he sought assistance from the building superintendent, leading to the discovery of Vitel's body in a duffel bag in a closet. The New York medical examiner determined her death to be a homicide and said that caused by blunt force trauma to the head. She also suffered multiple facial fractures, a brain bleed, and broken ribs.

Surveillance footage showed Vitel's movements in the apartment on March 10, followed by the teenagers entering shortly after. They were observed leaving on March 12 stealing Vitel's car.

According to NBC News, the two teenagers, aged 19 and 16, were identified after driving the stolen car to New Jersey where they eventually crashed. They were later apprehended by the US Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force in York, Pennsylvania.

The 19-year-old identified himself as Halley Tejada. According to the New York Police Department, the teenage girl initially gave false information to law enforcement about her age and name.

"Pressing the female for factual information, and after warning her that failing to tell the truth would lead to her arrest, she then provided her actual name, and the information was subsequently verified by the juvenile’s mother," the department wrote in a statement.