What to Know
- The man accused of killing Queens jogger Karina Vetrano has a new trial date
- Twenty-two-year-old Chanel Lewis was charged with sexually assaulting and strangling 30-year-old Vetrano in a park in Howard Beach in 2016
- On Tuesday morning it was announced that the new trial date has been set for March 12; A judge declared a mistrial last November
The man accused of killing Queens jogger Karina Vetrano has a new trial date.
On Tuesday morning it was announced that the new trial date for 22-year-old Chanel Lewis has been set for March 12.
Lewis was charged with sexually assaulting and strangling 30-year-old Vetrano in a park in Howard Beach in 2016.
A judge declared a mistrial last November when jurors couldn’t agree on a verdict.
“We are starting again,” Philip Vetrano, the victim’s father, said outside court Tuesday. “Going to get this over with. I’m disappointed that we have to go through it again. Other than that, we are on our way.”
The 2016 murder garnered attention. Vetrano was brutally strangled and sexually assaulted when jogging alone in Spring Creek Park, just blocks away from home.
Local
Seven months later, the Brooklyn man was arrested and charged after being linked through DNA evidence found under Vetrano’s nails. The prosecution’s case built on the alleged DNA and Lewis’ confession. However, the defense attorney said the mistrial went to show that there were issues with the DNA, including quantity and quality.
