Police arrest Chanel Lewis in strangling death of NYC jogger Karina Vetrano
NEW YORK - Police say a suspect has been arrested in the strangulation of a New York City woman who went out for a jog last summer and was found dead in a secluded marsh, authorities said Sunday.
According to Detectives Robert Boyce with the NYPD, DNA evidence has led to the arrest of 20-year-old Chanel Lewis of Brooklyn Saturday night for the murder of Katrina Vetrano, 30. Formal charges and an arraignment were pending; it wasn't clear if Lewis had an attoey. Lewis has no prior arrest record, police said.
Detectives say Vetrano went out for a jog not far from her Queens home on August 2, 2016, and when she didn't retu home, her parents reported her missing. Her body was found in an undeveloped area near her home in Howard Beach, Queens. The autopsy showed she was raped and strangled.
Th e arrest comes just days after Vetrano's parents called for the New York State Commission on Forensic Science to allow familial DNA matching in New York, which allows police to search the state and federal DNA database to see if a suspect's relative is in the system.
No further information has been released.
Lewis was led out of the 17th precinct on Sunday afteoon after his arrest was announced at a press conference
The 20-year-old has no prior criminal record but has three court summonses for acting suspiciously
Vetrano was seen on surveillance footage jogging towards the park at 5.46pm, moments before her death
Phil Vetrano, Vetrano's father (pictured with her), said he knew something was 'wrong' instinctively just 25 minutes after his daughter left their home to go running on August 2
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