The man suspected of killing and sexually assaulting a New York jogger Katrina Vetrano was arrested recently. The father of the suspect, however, believes his son could not do such crime.
Richard Lewis, 70, the father of suspected murderer Chanel Lewis, 20, said even if the DNA found on the victim matched that of his son, he does not believe the accusations. Vetrano who was killed last August following an afternoon jog. She never came back home and her lifeless body was found by her father and the police, according to New York Daily News.
Police said the victim put up a fight before she was strangled to death. She was also punched in the face and was sexually assaulted.
Richard said Chanel would never do what police are saying he did. The elder Lewis is a retired elementary school teacher. Prosecutors claimed Chanel confessed to the crime but his father said he would never have done that.
"He would never have," Richard insisted. "He never had a fight in all his 20 years, at school he got great, great grades and opportunity from them," the father said.
At the time of the murder, Chanel was living with his father. When police apprehended him, however, he has been living with his mother.
Richard gave reporters a tour of their apartment. He showed the certificates, awards and good grades of his son pinned up on a wall.
Chanel graduated from Martin De Porres High School and was an honor student. Richard continued to say he feels for the family but insisted the police got the wrong guy.
A source familiar with the investigation said Chanel was angry during the time that Vetrano was killed. He reportedly got mad because too many people were staying at his house, so he got out of their apartment. The attack on Vetrano is believed to be a chance encounter.
As for the family of the victim, BBC reported Vetrano's mother blasted Chanel. She was in court during Chanel's hearing and warned the suspect that his nightmare begins now then called him a demon in another statement.
There was no connection linking Vetrano and Lewis. No future court dates have been set yet.
