By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A man accused of strangling his girlfriend to death inside a New York University apartment pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Wednesday.
Michael Cordero, 26, admitted to killing 20-year-old California college student Boitumelo McCallum on Aug. 5, 2007, inside her mother’s NYU faculty apartment in Greenwich Village.
Both the victim’s parents were professors at NYU, and she was visiting them on a break from school, 1010WINS reported.
Prosecutors said Cordero choked the young woman to death and then wrapped a towel around her head before stealing her camera, laptop computer, cell phone and knapsack.
"If I could take it back, I would,'' Cordero said, according to 1010WINS. "I know what I did, and I'm willing to pay for it."
Cordero was promised a sentence of 25 years in prison for the killing.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said the case is a reminder of how domestic abuse can turn fatal.
Young adults should "understand the boundaries of appropriate relationships" and "should not have to tolerate physical or emotional abuse," Vance said in a statement.
Cordero’s sentencing is scheduled for April 28.
