NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A 20-year-old man is being held without bail Monday in the death of Queens jogger Karina Vetrano.
Chanel Lewis is charged with second-degree murder, authorities said. He was arraigned Sunday and his next court date is set for Feb. 21.
“This defendant admitted to attacking the victim, admitted to beating her, to strangling her and dragging her body in the weeds,” Queens assistant district attorney Michael Curtis said.
Vetrano’s parents were emotional after they left court Sunday, where they saw their daughter’s alleged killer for the first time.
“He’s a demon! He’s a demon!” said Cathy Vetrano.
Investigators said Vetrano was strangled when she went for a run alone in Spring Creek Park on Aug. 2 of last year. Later that night, her retired firefighter father found her body in a marsh not far from their Howard Beach home.
Police said Lewis was tracked down late last week at his home in East New York, Brooklyn that he shares with his mother and sister.
It’s where investigators say the unemployed man allegedly confessed to detectives that he raped and then strangled Vetrano. They also said Lewis voluntarily gave a DNA sample, which was a match.
“Karina help us identify this person,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. “She had the DNA under her nails, she had touch DNA on her back and more DNA on the cell phone.”
But Lewis’ father, Richard Lewis, paints a much different picture of his son.
“Wonderful and he’s great,” he said.
Police confirm Lewis has no criminal history, but had three summonses. They say back in May, three months before Vetrano’s death, a Howard Beach resident called 911 about Lewis acting suspiciously in the area. Investigators last week circled back to that report, identifying Lewis as a possible suspect.
But Lewis’ father refuses to believe his son is guilty, CBS2’s Janelle Burrell reported.
“Whatever I heard, he wouldn’t have done it,” he said. “He lives in an area where a lot of people do a lot of things, a lot of hurt and try to push it on other people.”
Authorities said Lewis did not know Vetrano before the attack. If convicted, Lewis faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
