NJ man pleads guilty in ex-girlfriend's murder that prompted Amber Alert, manhunt
ELIZABETH, New Jersey (WABC) -- A New Jersey man charged in the death of his ex-girlfriend last year in a missing persons case that prompted an Amber Alert and a multi-state manhunt pleaded guilty in Elizabeth Monday.
Tyler Rios, 27, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and desecration of human remains in the death of 27-year-old Yasemin Uyar.
He faces 25 years in prison on the aggravated manslaughter charge and five more years on the desecration of human remains charge when he is sentenced in June.
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Rios admitted to using a wrestling move on Uyar when they got into an argument about where he was living on July 8, 2021, inside her Rahway apartment.
Rios, a former Highland Park High School wrestler, put his forearm across her throat in an arm bar. He said the move was to end the argument, but he didn't intend to end her life.
After Rios realized he had killed Uyar, he panicked, picking up her body, putting it in a duffle bag, into the back of her car, and driving to Tennessee, where he put her body in a field.
An Amber Alert was issued for Uyar and their 2-year-old son Sebastian after Uyar failed to show up at work and the boy at day care.
Rios called someone he knew from a blocked number and admitted to having his son and allegedly killing Uyar, saying her body "had been in the vehicle for days, until he disposed of her remains off of a highway," according to court papers.
The call was traced to a hotel in Monterey, Tennessee, where Rios was found room with the boy.
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Rios led investigators to Uyar's body half naked body, stuff in a duffel bag in a wooded area nearby, off Interstate 40.
An autopsy revealed Uyar was strangled and suffered blunt-force trauma two days before her body was found on July 8.
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