You are reading

More Than 40,000 People Sign Petition Calling On DA Katz to Reopen the Case Against Chanel Lewis

Chanel Lewis (via petition)

July 14, 2021 By Allie Griffin

More than 40,000 people have signed a petition calling on Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to reopen a case in which a Black man was convicted for the murder of a woman in Howard Beach.

The petition-signers believe that Chanel Lewis who was found guilty of the 2016 murder and sexual assault of 30-year-old Karina Vetrano was wrongfully convicted and is in fact innocent.

Supporters of Lewis and advocates from local nonprofits marched to the Queens District Attorney’s Office Tuesday and delivered the petition, which demands that the newly-formed Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) open an investigation into Lewis’ case.

“Katz has previously indicated that her office would ‘look at’ the case and ‘see how the conviction integrity unit feels about it’…,” the petition states. “While Melinda Katz’s office takes the time to determine how they ‘feel’ about evaluating whether they may have convicted the wrong person and violated Chanel Lewis’ legal rights, Lewis is suffering.”

They want Lewis, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole, to be released on bail during such an investigation.

Tiffany Cabán, a former candidate for Queens district attorney, attended the protest in support of Lewis Tuesday.

“For the first time the Queens DA’s Office has a CIU but that means nothing if the bounds of that unit uphold a system that provides cover for bad actors,” Cabán said at the protest.

A jury found Lewis, who was 22 at the time, guilty of the murder of Vetrano in 2019 during a second trial after his first trial ended in a hung jury.

Karina Vetrano (Facebook)

Vetrano was attacked, sexually assaulted and strangled to death as she went on a jog through a park near her home in Howard Beach on Aug. 2, 2016.

Prosecutors in the case said DNA evidence found on Vetrano’s body matched that of Lewis, but the defense said the DNA was improperly collected.

Supporters say that Lewis is not the killer. They believe his case was mishandled by the prosecution and have accused the NYPD of racial profiling.

Lewis — whom the petition describes as “intellectually disabled” — originally confessed to the crime before pleading not guilty in court. His supporters say his confession was coerced by police.

A spokesperson for the Queens District Attorney’s Office declined to comment about the case at this time.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Far Rockaway man sentenced to 24 years to life for fatal 2021 shooting near Mott Avenue station: DA

Far Rockaway resident Waturi Johnson was sentenced Friday to 24 years to life in prison for the fatal shooting of Uriah Richardson, a father of three who was gunned down in broad daylight in front of the Mott Avenue A train station 2021. The two men did not know each other.

Johnson, 54, of Beach 30th Street, was convicted of murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon charges by a jury in Queens Supreme Court in June following a two-week trial reaching the guilty verdict after deliberating for approximately four hours.

Brooklyn man charged in viral Belt Parkway crash scheme captured on victim’s dashcam: DA

A Brooklyn man was criminally charged with staging a car crash on the Belt Parkway in Rosedale last month that was captured on the dashboard camera in the victim’s car and went viral on social media after it was posted on TikTok, where it was viewed by millions worldwide.

Maikel Martinez, 28, of 14th Avenue in Dyker Heights, was apprehended by law enforcement Thursday at JFK Airport after arriving back in Queens on a flight from Ecuador, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Friday.

SUV explosion rocks South Ozone Park street, damaging homes and vehicles on Friday morning: FDNY

A quiet residential street in South Ozone Park was rocked by a thunderous explosion on Friday morning after an SUV filled with dangerous construction materials detonated in front of 131-16 133 St. five blocks west of the Van Wyck Expressway.

The massive blast damaged five homes and brought down Con Edison power lines on the block and obliterated the vehicle that belonged to a plumber who lives there. No one was injured in the blast but several residents of the block were near the vehicle just before it exploded, officials said..