What to Know
- Jury selection is expected to start Tuesday at the retrial of a man accused of killing a runner near her family's New York City home
- Chanel Lewis was accused of killing 30-year-old Karina Vetrano as she ran on a park trail in Howard Beach, Queens, in August 2016
- A judge declared a mistrial last November when jurors couldn’t agree on a verdict
Jury selection is expected to start Tuesday at the retrial of a man accused of killing a runner near her family's New York City home.
Chanel Lewis was accused of killing 30-year-old Karina Vetrano as she ran on a park trail in Howard Beach, Queens, in August 2016.
Prosecutors say Vetrano was sexually abused and strangled. Her father found her body.
Lewis, 22, was charged with sexually assaulting and strangling 30-year-old Vetrano in a park in Howard Beach in 2016.
A judge declared a mistrial last November when jurors couldn’t agree on a verdict.
The Legal Aid Society stresses that Lewis "is presumed innocent."
It says jurors must scrutinize the accuracy and reliability of statements police say they obtained from the defendant, and the reliability of DNA evidence.
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Legal Aid also notes that prosecutors have a "burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt."
The 2016 murder garnered attention. Vetrano was brutally strangled and sexually assaulted when jogging alone in Spring Creek Park, just blocks away from home.
Seven months later, the Brooklyn man was arrested and charged after being linked through DNA evidence found under Vetrano’s nails. The prosecution’s case built on the alleged DNA and Lewis’ confession. However, the defense attorney said the mistrial went on to show that there were issues with the DNA, including quantity and quality.
