New York police have a suspect in custody in the high-profile murder of a 30-year-old jogger in New York City’s Queens borough last summer.
The body of Karina Vetrano was found in a park in Howard Beach not far from her home. She had been raped and strangled.
Police announced Sunday they are filing charges against a 20-year-old man identified as Chanel Lewis, who lives a couple of miles away from the park where Vetrano’s body was discovered.
“Subsequent to the investigation, Chanel Lewis, 20 years old, is being held in connection to the homicide of Karina Vetrano. Charges are pending,” police tweeted.
Local news stations reported authorities used DNA tests to identify Lewis, matching DNA from the crime scene and Verdano.
Lewis did not know Vetrano, police said, and it was a chance encounter that led to the jogger’s murder.
Vetrano went for a run in Spring Creek Park on Aug. 2. Her father, a retired law enforcement officer, and another investigator, discovered Vetrano’s battered body in an area of the park known as The Weeds later that evening when she didn’t return home from her jog, according to local news reports.
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