Free Republic

One of the jurors who helped convict Chanel Lewis of murder for slaying Queens jogger Karina Vetrano said Monday night that he wasn’t sure the man was guilty and felt pressured to convict him. “He seems like such a good kid. Did he really do this?” the juror, a white male in his 30s, said outside court Monday night about Lewis. “I kept thinking ‘How tall is Karina? How tall is Chanel?’ She looked pretty buff me to.”

A jury in the retrial of the man accused of killing Queens jogger Karina Vetrano found him guilty of murdering the 30-year-old woman and dumping her body in weeds near her home. Chanel Lewis, 22, was found guilty on all four counts brought against him. The jury deliberated for just a few hours before returning the guilty verdict. Earlier in the day, they heard closing arguments as Vetrano’s parents wept and prayed in the courtroom, hoping Lewis would be found guilty of the slaying after his first trial ended in a mistrial in November.

The suspect in the murder of Karina Vetrano, a woman who was sexually attacked and strangled while running near her family’s New York City home, has been triggered by what he described as lewd acts on behalf of prisoners and guards at Rikers Island, according to a report. “Captains are trying to tell inmates to beat me up,” Chanel Lewis, 22, told The New York Post about corrections supervisors. WARNING: DISTURBING DETAILS BELOWLewis added that correction officers were instructing inmates to call him a “f----t, the a-word and the p-word.”Lewis told the Post that the semen of his fellow inmates...

This Queens judge apparently likes his jurors — and dry cleaning — to be hung. Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise, who stunningly declared a jury deadlocked in the Karina Vetrano murder case after just one day of deliberations, tookadvantage Wednesday of the unexpected time off the quick-draw decision earned him by picking up his laundry. Modal TriggerMichael Aloise Michael AloiseGregory P. Mango The errand-run came as one of those jurors revealed to The Post that several members of the panel wanted to keep weighing the charges against Chanel Lewis — who is accused of sexually assaulting and strangling the 30-year-old...

In a note to Judge Michael Aloise in Queens Supreme Court on Tuesday night, the jury wrote: “After deliberating for the entire day we are split. It doesn’t seem like we can make progress. We feel that we have exhausted all of our options.” Lewis’ attorney then moved for a mistrial and Aloise granted it. “I’m inclined to agree even though it’s only been a day and a half,” Aloise said. “There were extensive deliberations. They covered issues central to the debate.” Aloise then wished members of the jury a happy holiday before dismissing them.

The suspect accused of killing Queens jogger Karina Vetrano lived at home with his mother and was flagged three times for summonses around the rural park before the savage slaying, authorities said Sunday. Chanel Lewis, 20, is expected to be arraigned on murder and sexual assault charges after DNA recovered from her body and phone linked him to the crime, officials said. Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said that cops keyed in on Lewis after reviewing a 911 call made from the area by someone who said the unemployed man was acting suspiciously.