An ‘angry’ loser
DA: He killed Karina in ‘sexual frustration’
The loner accused of killing a jogger in a Queens park was a perpetually angry man who took his sexual frustration out “on a pretty young woman ... in a halter top,” a prosecutor said Monday.
Lawyers wrapped up their closing arguments in the trial of Chanel Lewis, 22, who is accused of killing 30-year-old Karina Vetrano while she was jogging in Spring Creek Park near her family’s home in Howard Beach.
Assistant DA Brad Leventhal told jurors in Queens Supreme Court that Lewis was motivated by anger, and murdered and sexually assaulted Vetrano when they crossed paths in August 2016.
“On this day he took his anger out on a pretty young woman, a girl in a halter top,” Leventhal said. “He has no girlfriend, no job, no friends and he’s angry all the time. He takes the random opportunity to pounce on her. I submit he was motivated by anger and sexual frustration.”
Leventhal quoted from the defendant’s confession, and dismissed any notion that it was coerced.
“The defendant was advised of his constitutional rights,” Leventhal said. “He’s the man whose hands were wrapped around her neck, squeezing her neck, squeezing her throat, choking the life out of her body.
“The evidence shown at trial shows beyond any doubt, let alone reasonable doubt, that he’s a murderer,” Leventhal said, “and all the tap-dancing in the world isn’t going to change that.”
Lewis has pleaded not guilty to murder and sexual abuse charges.
His attorney, Robert Moeller, argued that the crime scene was corrupted by a bunch of people, including the victim’s own father, and that the DNA evidence was suspect.
“The sex abuse charge in this case is circumstantial evidence,” Moeller said. “There’s no DNA found anywhere on those parts of Miss Vetrano’s body.”
As for details Lewis shared during his confession, such as what the victim was wearing, Moeller said Lewis was just repeating what he learned from news reports, some of which was incorrect.
“He had no knowledge that wasn’t widely circulated,” Moeller said of Lewis.
Deliberations began late Monday afternoon.