Donna Hylton

Donna Hylton is a Jamaican-American convicted murderer. She was convicted at age 20 of murder in the second degree and two counts of kidnapping in the first degree for her role in the 1985 kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of New York businessman Thomas Vigliarolo. Sentenced to 25 years to life, Hylton was paroled in 2012 after serving more than 26 years. Following her time in prison, Hylton earned a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science and a master’s degree in English from Mercy College, and now works as an activist, public speaker, and community health advocate for Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s. She is the author of the memoir A Little Piece of Light.

On March 20, 1985, Hylton and three female accomplices drugged and kidnapped 62-year-old Long Island real estate broker Thomas Vigliarolo at the behest of Louis Miranda, who thought Vigliarolo had cheated him out of $139,000 on a mutual con in which the two allegedly sold shares in New York City condos and pocketed the money. The kidnappers held Vigliarolo prisoner for 15–20 days. During that time, three men and four women, including Hylton, starved, burned, beat, sexually assaulted/raped, and tortured him. On April 5, 1985, with Hylton asleep in the next room, Vigliarolo died of asphyxiation. Three days later, his body was found locked in a trunk in a Manhattan apartment.

In January 2017, Hylton was a featured speaker at the Women's March on Washington. During the speech, she refers to herself as “inmate #86G0206,” and spoke about issues facing women who are in prison.