NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Community groups on Tuesday delivered a petition to the Queens district attorney, demanding the case of a man convicted of killing a female jogger be reopened.
Chanel Lewis was convicted in a 2019 retrial of murdering 30-year-old Karina Vetrano while she was out for a jog in Howard Beach in the summer of 2016. His first trial ended in a hung jury.
He was sentenced to life in prison.
Advocacy groups, including Color Of Change, VOCAL-NY, Housing Justice for All, NYC Action Lab, LIFE Camp, and Drum NYC, want the case reopened and are demanding a fair trial for Lewis.
They claim Lewis was wrongfully convicted and are alleging prosecutorial misconduct, racial profiling and coerced confessions in the case.
"We want justice for her too, but you got the wrong guy on this one," said the Rev. Kevin McCall. "So Melinda Katz, do your job and go out there and investigate in Howard Beach and find the real killer and let Chanel go."
More than 40,000 New Yorkers signed the petition, calling for Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to refer the case to the Conviction Integrity Unit and release Lewis on bail.
Lewis' mother, Veta, continues to maintain her son's innocence, saying his confession was coerced.
"My son is not a murderer. The police, they're lying," she said.
"False confessions is one of the leading causes of wrongful conviction," said Derrick Hamilton who was for 23 years for a murder he didn't commit. "If you look at Chanel's confession you see at the end of it he's speaking to a detective and he says, 'Are you my lawyer?' That in itself should've prohibited it being used in a Queens courtroom."
Katz had previously indicated that her office would look at the case.
The district attorney's office declined comment.