Nearly six months to the day after a 30-year-old woman was slain while jogging in New York, police say they have arrested a man suspected in her death.
Chanel Lewis, 20, was taken into custody Saturday night, according to the New York Police Department. Lewis reportedly made โdetailed incriminating statements and admissionsโ about the murder of Karina Vetrano, who went out for a run last August in Howard Beach and never returned, police said.
DNA evidence also linked Lewis to the crime scene, police said.
โThis is a very good day for justice in New York City,โ NYPD chief of detectives Robert Boyce said at a news conference Sunday. The case had baffled detectives and spooked a normally quiet neighborhood that sees little crime.
Boyce said police received more than 250 leads from the public. โEach one was vetted painstakingly by detectives,โ he said.
Over the past 10 days or so, one of those tips led detectives to the home Lewis shared with his mother in East New York, a Brooklyn neighborhood on the Queens border, just to the west of Howard Beach.
Boyce said detectives first spoke to Lewis on Thursday night, and he freely gave up a swab of his DNA.
It was taken immediately to the medical examiner, Boyce said. โWithin two days, we had a hit.โ
Lewis had no criminal history, and police say they do not believe he knew Vetrano at all.
โYou gotta remember, Karina helped us identify this person,โ Boyce said, referring to evidence that was processed more than six months ago when Vetranoโs body was discovered. โShe had the DNA under her nails, she had touch DNA on her back, and there was more DNA on the cellphone.โ
A search warrant was pending, Boyce said Sunday. Lewis was charged with second-degree murder, ABC 7 News reported.
โWeโre satisfied that we have a solid case,โ Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said at the news conference.
When she didnโt come back from the run, though, Phil Vetrano grew worried.
Boyce told reporters that Vetranoโs father called a police chief who lives nearby. That person called emergency responders, and a search effort began. After several hours searching in the woods alongside detectives, Phil Vetrano helped discover his daughterโs body in marshland, police said.
There was evidence she had been beaten, raped and strangled โ and put up a fight against her attacker, police said.
A family friend told the New York Post that Phil Vetrano was โtraumatized.โ Soon after, he started a GoFundMe page to raise money to supplement a $20,000 NYPD reward for information leading to the capture of his daughterโs killer. The account has raised more than $280,000.
On Sunday, Karina Vetranoโs anguished parents spoke to reporters outside their home.
โIโm not going to say it is a good day, but we can move forward now,โ Phil Vetrano said, according to the New York Daily News. โWe know who did this.โ
Cathy Vetrano, Karinaโs mother, said their sorrow was โso endlessly painfulโ that news of the arrest had not brought happiness โ although she expressed gratitude to investigators who had pursued the case.
โThe demon must get his justice,โ Cathy Vetrano said, according to the newspaper. โWe will see to it.โ
