A ruthless teen squatter who helped beat a mother to death inside a Manhattan apartment admitted to bashing the doomed woman five times with a metal frying pan, it was revealed at her sentencing Friday.
The grisly new detail was unearthed as Kensley Alston, 20, was sentenced to 20 years-to-life in prison for bludgeoning beloved mom Natalie Vitels, after the woman found her and boyfriend,Halley Tejada, holed up in Vitels’ Kips Bay apartment in 2024.
Vitels’ heartbroken son, Misha, 23, said in a victim impact speech that even he didn’t know the gruesome detail to the murder.
“(Alston) took the woman who had gave so much and was just about to get some back,” Misha Vitels said in a victim impact statement.
The shattered son shared his horrors and paranoia he gets every day since his mother’s sickening murder.
“I replay what happened in that apartment in my head constantly,” Misha said, “I can’t feel secure anywhere.”
Alston, who appeared in a pink polo shirt and jeans, mustered up a soft-spoken “I’m sorry” when given the chance to speak before Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Rachel Pauley issued the sentence.
Alston, who was 18 at the time, and her boyfriend Halley Tejada, then 19, had been squatting for days inside Vitels’ vacant apartment before the doomed mom came home and found them, Manhattan prosecutors have said.
Vitels demanded they leave — but the duo went off the rails and threatened to kill her.
They then chased Vitels to a bedroom, where they beat her to death.
At one point during the attack, the callous Alston allegedly told Tejada to put shoes on while kicking his victim so he didn’t hurt his feet.
They eventually stuffed Vitels’ body inside a duffle bag and put it in a closet — while she was still breathing, officials said.
The victim was found two days later.
Vitels’ injuries included skull fractures and broken ribs — injuries prosecutors have described consistent to being “struck by a train” or falling from great heights.
The couple tried to make a getaway by stealing Vitels’ Lexus SUV until they were arrested nine days later by the feds in Pennsylvania.
During that time, the devilish duo used Vitels’ cash and credit cards to to buy things, such as a PS5 game system, AirPods, clothes, food and even a diamond engagement ring, prosecutors have said.
Tejada, who had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, was ripped by Vitels’ son at the April sentencing, who trashed him as an “animal” that stole his mother away from the world.
“What hurts even more is looking back and seeing everything this animal stole from us,” Misha fumed, adding that his mother spent the three years before her death caring for her sick parents.
“She was moving into the city, excited to build a life that was truly her own,” Misha said, “In an instant, in an instant, all of it was ripped away.”
Vitals’ family is suing the building where his mom lived, claiming that her killers were able to due to lax security and a faulty front door.
The lawsuit is ongoing.
“While I hope today’s sentencing can provide some closure, it will not bring Ms. Vitels back. My heart is with her loved ones who continue to feel her loss every day,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
