Karina Vetrano Murder Trial: DNA, Videotaped Confession To Be Presented

All evidence, including DNA and a videotaped confession, will be allowed in the murder trial of a Brooklyn man charged with murdering Karina Vetrano. Chanel Lewis allegedly killed the 30-year-old New York jogger on Aug. 2, 2016, when she jogged alone on a remote path near her Howard Beach home.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak said Monday that pieces of evidence in the case will be admitted when the trial begins for Lewis, according to the New York Daily News. Earlier, Lewis' attorneys raised questions about the validity of his DNA sample and filed a separate lawsuit over the method the police used to get it.

Police used the process of familial DNA searching, where genetic materials found at crime scenes are used to see if it matches the DNA of another convicted offender. Lewis’ Legal Aid lawyers also raised doubt on how his confession was obtained.

“This is DNA, a confession, facts,” Cathy Vetrano, the victim’s mother, said outside of court Monday. “We just want justice and a violent person off the streets.”

The Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Practice at The Legal Aid Society, Tina Luongo, told the New York Daily News in April 2017: "We remain concerned with how the NYPD collected the DNA evidence, the infallibility of DNA evidence in general, and the voluntariness of our client's statements... As such, the reliability of the prosecution's evidence will be fully litigated in this matter. There are way more questions than answers here."

In a video, Lewis described the woman's final moments, telling how he "finished her off." He said he “lost it” when he saw Vetrano running down a path in the borough of Queens in August 2016.

“I grabbed her by the shoulders… I crouched over her and I punched her in the face multiple times,” said Lewis, according to the testimony. “I put both my hands around her neck and strangled her… I grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her off the path and into the weeds.”

“She didn’t do anything,” he said. “I was just mad at the time. I beat her to let emotions out. I didn’t really mean to hurt her. It just happened.” The accused killer said he got “madder and madder” as she fought back and strangled the jogger.

Lewis denied raping Vetrano and claimed her clothes fell off in the fight.

"I didn't do any of the stuff they said, sexual assault and stuff like that," he told police.