File Photo
Karina Vetrano was brutally murdered in Spring Creek Park
in August 2016.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Attorneys representing the alleged killer of a beloved Howard Beach resident notified the court on Thursday that they are no longer pursuing an insanity defense.
Chanel Lewis, 21, of East New York, allegedly murdered Karina Vetrano, 30, on Aug. 2, 2017, as she jogged in Spring Creek Park near her home. He was arrested in February and formally indicted in April.
Public defenders last week informed the presiding judge and prosecutors that they wouldn’t rely on the subject of mental health as they prepare their case. Lewis’ lawyers indicated that “they’re going to take a hard look at the validity of the DNA evidence and Lewis’ confession” to the homicide, according to the New York Daily News.
Lewis has reportedly been examined by psychiatric personnel on two separate occasions. He’s due back in court in November.
Vetrano, an alumnus of borough institutions St. John’s University and Archbishop Molloy High School, was an avid jogger and fitness enthusiast who often ran with her father in their Howard Beach neighborhood. That evening, she jogged alone, and according to prosecutors, was raped and strangled by Lewis. Vetrano’s body was discovered by her father and the police later that night lying in a marshy area, approximately 15 feet from a trail near 161st Avenue and 78th Street in the park.
