Jury Hears Confession Tape Of Accused Jogger Killer Chanel Lewis In Court
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A taped confession from the man accused of killing jogger Karina Vetrano was played for a jury in Queens on Friday.
During an investigation six months after the August 2016 murder in Howard Beach, police say 22-year-old Chanel Lewis admitted to detectives he didn't know the victim.
Detective: How many times did you hit her in the face?
Lewis: Around five.
Detective: Was she still moving when you had your hands around her neck?
Lewis: Well, yeah. Then she dropped in the water. After that she was just lying there.
Lewis' attorney has said police coerced his client's confession by keeping him in isolation during the six-hour interrogation.
Earlier this week, detectives presented their account of how they collected evidence at Spring Creek Park in Howard Beach, Queens, where Vetrano was murdered.
The evidence they collected included one of her ear buds and one of her running shoes. The prosecution appears to be laying out the painstaking efforts NYPD detectives went through to preserve the evidence without possible contamination, Sanchez reported.
Lewis' attorneys are picking apart the evidence collection, questioning detectives' protocol in labeling and mapping out the evidence items, perhaps trying to show how mistakes could have been made.
Vetrano's parents, her sister and several other family members and friends were in the courtroom all week. ChanLewis' mother was also there. His father has not been present for any of the trial so far.
It is believed he may testify in the coming days.
