Murder of Karina Vetrano

Chanel Lewis found guilty on three counts of murder and 1 count of sexual assault: Karina Vetrano

The 22-year old Chanel Lewis has been finally found guilty on three counts of murder and one count of sexual abuse. The Queens Supreme Court declared him guilty on a retrial on 1 April 2019 for the rape and murder of 30-years old Karina Vetrano from Queens, New York City. Lewis, whose trial began on 5 November 2018 ended in a mistrial on 21 November 2018. Finally, a retrial on 1 April 2019 found him guilty after being linked by DNA evidence. Lewis is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without parole. The court will announce Lewis's sentence on 17 April 2019. 

Karina Vetrano was an American woman who was attacked, sexually assaulted, and murdered while she was jogging in Spring Creek Park in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York City on 2 August 2016.

Who was Karina Vetrano?

Karina Vetrano was born on 12 July 1986. She was born to a father Phillip Vetrano, and a mother, Cathie Vetrano. Her birthplace was in Queens, New York in the United States. She had 2 siblings, a brother, and a sister. She attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens. She received her Master's Degree in speech pathology from St. John's University. She was an aspiring writer and had appeared in a short film inspired by her writings in 2013. She had been living in the same Queens neighborhood as her parents and working as a speech pathologist with children with autism in Manhattan.

When was Karina Vetrano Murdered?

Karina went for jogging alone in Spring Creek Park in the late afternoon on 2 August 2016. Her regular jogging partner, her father, rested at home as he was suffering from a back injury. Karina did not return home. Neither she returned repeated calls and texts from her father. Her worried father informed his neighbor, an NYPD police chief. The police launched a search immediately. 

Around 11 p.m. on the same day, her father found her body face-down about 15 feet of the trail. She was partially naked and covered with scratches and bruises. She was also assaulted sexually. 

Who Killed Karina Vetrano?

The suspect's DNA was found under Karina's fingernails, on her back, and on her phone. However, DNA evidence could not produce any leads. Police offered $350,000 reward for information leading up to the arrest of her killer. She was last seen alive on a CCTV footage jogging near Spring Creek Park. 

The FBI and NYPD developed a suspect profile in December 2016. Almost 6 months later, the police announced on 4 February 2017 that they had taken the suspect, Chanel R. Lewis into questioning. Lewis then-20 years old resident from Brooklyn was placed under arrest and charged with one count of second-degree murder. Investigators stated that he had left his home after arguing with his family and walked over to the park, where he came across Karina and attacked her.