Karina Vetrano Latest News: Murder Motive Unknown As Chanel Lewis’ Family Visits Son In Jail

The parents of Chanel Lewis have struggled to make sense of their son's arrest in connection to the months-long Karina Vetrano case. Lewis' parents were finally able to visit their son in jail last Friday, but a possible motive in the murder remains unknown.

"He's doing fine," Richard Lewis told the New York Times of his son in a piece published Sunday. Chanel Lewis, 20, was arrested Feb. 4 and soon charged with second-degree murder in relation to the sexual assault and strangulation of Vetrano. He lived in Brooklyn and was said to have no history of violence. He had received only three summonses prior to the event from 2013; one was for public urination, according to ABC 7 News.

Richard and Veta Lewis, who separated years ago but have kept in contact, were forced to face the media and public criticism following their youngest son's arrest. At first, the family had trouble believing their son was involved in the gruesome slaying.

“My son is friendly, God-fearing, and would not hurt anybody,” Veta Lewis told reporters.

Chanel Lewis was taken into custody soon after voluntarily offering a DNA sample to investigators, which matched the DNA found on Vetrano’s body. He confessed shortly after being taken into custody.

Lewis’s father was still making sense of his son’s arrest in connection to the crime, as were the suspect's friends.

“They can’t believe it at all,” he said. “Not at all, sir. I can’t believe it, either.”

Chanel Lewis was previously unemployed and lived with his mother, according to the New York Post. The act was seemingly random and Chanel had no previous connection to Vetrano.

Vetrano, 30, was reported missing in August when she did not return from an early evening jog in the Howard Beach neighborhood of New York City's Queens borough. Police discovered Vetrano’s body in a nearby park just feet away from a trail. She was said to have been strangled and sexually assaulted.

Vetrano’s family had played an active role in the investigation and urged the city to perform familial DNA testing to find the suspect when the investigation stalled after months. It took investigators about six months to find a suspect in the case. News updates would frequently resurface and police were eventually able to put together a sketch of the suspect.

"This was a huge undertaking," police expert joseph Giacalone had said of the case, according to CBS News. "I don't know if people really understand the complexity of this, and the massive amount of data that had to be combed through to come up with this needle in a haystack."