Convicted killer of Howard Beach jogger Karina Vetrano can press appeal on 'racial dragnet' claim

Rocco Parascandola and Leonard Greene, New York Daily News on Aug 4, 2026

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NEW YORK — An appellate judge has cleared the way for a man convicted of sexually assaulting and brutally murdering Howard Beach jogger Karina Vetrano to continue pressing forward with his appeal.

More than a decade after Vetrano’s body was found in Spring Creek Park near Howard Beach in Queens, Chanel Lewis, the man serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murder, has won the right to renew his appeal. The development is the latest in a long line of legal twists and turns that included a stalled investigation, a breakthrough, a mistrial, a retrial, a conviction and an earlier appeal.

Six months ago, Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise denied a defense motion to vacate the conviction, rejecting the argument that “a racial dragnet” was used to capture and convict Lewis. But the appeals court found the issue worthy of another look.

“We are pleased that the appeals court has found the racial dragnet issue worthy of further review,” said Lewis’ lawyer, Ronald Koby. “For years, the trial judge has done everything in his power to prevent a searching inquiry into the desperate and unlawful attempts by the NYPD to solve this high profile case.”

Kuby has alleged his client was linked to the killing after the NYPD used an unapproved lab to do racial phenotyping testing on evidence recovered from Vetrano’s body.

The testing determined that the killer was of African descent and “led to a sweep of minority suspects prior to the testing of (Vetrano),” Kuby’s motion claimed. Court papers cited a 2019 story in the Daily News reporting 360 Black and Hispanic men previously questioned by police in Howard Beach “were harassed, surveilled and swabbed on questionable consent.”

Karina Vetrano was killed while jogging alone in Spring Creek Park on Aug. 2, 2016. The 30-year-old St. John’s University graduate was severely beaten, face-down in 8-foot reeds, with a front tooth knocked out, her pants pulled down and her socks wet, officials said.

Her phone was found about 15 to 20 feet from her body, according to cops, who recovered DNA from an unknown person on her cell phone, and from the back of her neck and her fingernails.

Six months into the investigation, the case went cold until a detective recalled calling police about a Black man who was roaming in the Howard Beach neighborhood three months before Vetrano’s death, according to trial testimony. The man was later identified as Lewis.

Lewis, then 20, agreed to allow police to swab him for DNA inside his East New York home as his mother stood nearby. He was taken into custody a week later.

Lewis’ first trial ended with a hung jury before his conviction on April 1, 2019.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has said she stands by the conviction. A Katz spokesman, Brendan Brosh, said prosecutors welcomed the new motion.

“This decision provides a means for the defendant to get full review of his claims,” Brosh said in a statement.

Kuby said a new appeal will be filed within two months.

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