Karina Vetrano's Parents Pleased Chanel Lewis Will 'Die In Jail'

The parents of Karina Vetrano were pleased after the New York City jogger's killer was found guilty on all counts of murder and sexual abuse brought against him at a retrial Sunday. Chanel Lewis was arrested in February 2017 and charged with second-degree murder.

"Jubilation. Justice has been served," the victim's father, Phil Vetrano, said as he exited the courtroom holding hands with his wife, ABC News reported. "He just got a death sentence, he's going to die in jail. We can't be anymore pleased and now we move on."

Lewis, 21, faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole and his sentencing is scheduled for April 17.

Earlier on Sunday, the court heard closing arguments as Vetrano’s parents wept and prayed in the courtroom. The retrial came as the first trial deadlocked a jury after 13 hours and prompted the case judge to declare a mistrial in November.

In his closing statement, Queens Assistant District Attorney Brad Leventhal urged jurors to return a guilty verdict, the New York Post reported.

“He’s the man who murdered Karina. This defendant is the perpetrator,” Leventhal said pointing at Lewis.

Vetrano, 30, was killed while jogging in Spring Creek Park — adjacent to Howard Beach, New York — on Aug. 2, 2016. After she did not return home, her father Phil, got concerned and called a neighbor who works for the NYPD for help.

According to trial testimony, Phil led the search and ultimately discovered his daughter's partially-clothed body in unkempt weeds in the waterfront park. Her phone was found about 15 to 20 feet from her body.

Robert Boyce, who was the NYPD chief of detectives at the time, said police recovered DNA from one unknown person -- later identified as Lewis -- on her cell phone, the back of her neck and her fingernails.

Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge at the Legal Aid Society, said Friday that New York City police approached Lewis “to obtain a DNA swab as part of a race-biased dragnet” while hunting for Vetrano’s killer.

“We learned that the police approached our Mr. Lewis to obtain a DNA swab as part of a race-biased dragnet, which involved the swabbing of over 360 African-American men in Howard Beach and other neighboring sections of Brooklyn and Queens,” Luongo said.

An NYPD spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News that evidence showed Lewis was responsible for Vetrano’s death.

“The NYPD has painstakingly investigated the murder of Karina Vetrano, and as the Queens District Attorney’s prosecution demonstrates, the evidence clearly shows that Chanel Lewis is responsible for her death,” the statement read. “Multiple legal hearings and two criminal trials, over more than two years, have already exhaustively examined the issues in this anonymous, 11th-hour letter, a missive riddled with falsehoods and inaccuracies.”

Lewis’ attorneys and the Legal Aid Society previously claimed that their client was coerced into a confession. They also said his DNA was not found at the crime scene.