Chanel Lewis gets life without parole

Queens jogger Karina Vetranos killer was slammed with life without parole at his sentencing Tuesday after the victims mom held up a pair of her daughters sneakers during a heartbreaking statement.

Explore More

Queens jogger Karina Vetrano’s killer was slammed with life without parole at his sentencing Tuesday — after the victim’s mom held up a pair of her daughter’s sneakers during a heartbreaking statement.

Justice Michael Aloise slapped convicted killer Chanel Lewis, 22, with the maximum prison term in a courtroom packed with both family and friends of Vetrano — including her parents, Phil and Cathie Vetrano — and supporters of Lewis.

In her gut-wrenching victim impact statement ahead of sentencing, Cathie Vetrano called Lewis “remorseless” and deemed him “a pathetic, evil coward” who “carried out the work of Satan” when he laid his “loathsome hand upon a child of God — my daughter, my innocent daughter.

“This is a day where we acknowledge that Karina’s life matters,” said Cathie, who then held up the pair of white running shoes Vetrano wore the morning of Aug. 2, 2016, hours before she was murdered.

“As tiny as they are, these are the shoes of a giant — a valiant warrior and a queen,” the mom said.

“So repulsive are you that you left her [body] hidden to be further desecrated in the summer heat by bugs and animals … [and] like a snake, you slithered away into the night,” Cathie told Lewis, adding: “My hope is that you live a long life within the prison of the law and the prison of your conscience.”

The devastated mother, who also read aloud an excerpt of her daughter’s personal writings, called the sentencing day “Karina’s day — it’s her and hers alone.”

But the mother also told the court how, since Karina’s murder, she’s “lost all of myself” and that Lewis “slaughtered” her too on the day of her daughter’s slaying.

She recalled how her grandson was just 3 months old when Karina was killed, and how she always loves to hear his innocent questions these days — except one time recently. That’s when the child asked her, “When is Ri-Ri coming back?,” in reference to his slain aunt, the mom said.

Even Lewis’ mom later said Cathie Vetrano’s statement “broke my heart.”

Lewis, who confessed to the heinous killing and whose DNA was discovered at the crime scene, was found guilty earlier this month of murdering and sexually abusing the 30-year-old Vetrano while she was out jogging near her home in Howard Beach’s Spring Creek Park.

Phil Vetrano, a retired firefighter who found his daughter’s battered body face-down later that night among the tall weeds inside the desolate park, also delivered an emotional victim impact statement.

“That monster killed four people the night of Aug. 2, 2016. One of us is in heaven, but the other three walk the Earth as zombies just waiting to die to be with Karina again,” Phil said. “There are no more merry Christmas, no more happy New Years, no more happy birthdays, there is no more pleasure in life. No more smiles, no more happiness — those are all taken by that convicting murdering rapist.

“Only my faith in God and my belief in heaven keeps me from killing myself for fear of not being allowed into heaven to see my baby again,” the dad said.

Vetrano’s sister, Tana, also gave a tearful statement, and a statement by her brother, Eddy, was read aloud by a prosecutor.

Before his sentencing, Lewis spoke in court, declaring: “The only thing I want to say is, I’m innocent. I’m sorry for the family’s loss, but I didn’t do this.”

Moments later, the judge told Lewis, “I believe with all my heart, God is embracing Karina. That same God is ready and anxious to forgive you.

“There is only one person who can make that happen, and that person is you,” the judge said. “When you do decide to make that decision, you’re gonna do it inside a cage.”

Supporters of Lewis erupted in chants of “Justice for Chanel!” and “Chanel is innocent!” in the courtroom after the sentencing and called the judge “a racist.”

Aloise is white, as was the victim. Lewis is black.

Outside the courthouse, Phil Vetrano insisted “there is no question, no doubt” that Lewis is his daughter’s killer.

“We never wanted to make a race thing out of this, and to us it still isn’t,” said Phil, who added that Lewis’ defense team put the Vetrano family through “torture.”

“Today, everybody got justice,” the dad said. “Karina got justice, and the murderer got justice.”

Supporters of Lewis, including his mother, Veta, rallied on the steps outside the courthouse after the hearing.

“This Queens court is injustice. This judge needs to be investigated,” the Rev. Kevin McCall said as he accused Aloise of being a racist. “Today a man was lynched in sentencing.”

Lewis, of East New York, Brooklyn, viciously beat and strangled Vetrano during her regular run that afternoon.

In Lewis’ chilling confession to police, he claimed he got angry at Vetrano when she tried to fight him off in the remote green space, admitting that he repeatedly punched her and dragged her “by the hands” into the tall grass near the jogging path.

There, “I finished her off,” Lewis can be heard telling cops in the disturbing recording.

“I was beating her and was mad at her,” Lewis confessed.

Lewis was arrested in the high-profile case on Feb. 5, 2017 — about six months after the horrific attack.

His first trial ended with a controversial hung jury back in November after only one day of deliberations.

Ultimately in the retrial verdict, Lewis was found guilty of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse.

In a bid to overturn the guilty verdict, Lewis’ lawyers claimed there was juror misconduct during deliberations, which delayed Lewis’ sentencing. On Monday, Aloise rejected the allegations.

Lawyers for the Legal Aid Society, who represented Lewis, said in a statement after the sentencing: “While there is no denying that Karina Vetrano’s death is tragic and that her family and friends suffered a great loss, every aspect of this case — from the police investigation to jury deliberations — was propelled by a desire to convict at all costs.

“This was done without any concern for Mr. Lewis’ constitutional rights to due process and a fair trial. We will appeal this case to the Appellate Division to secure Mr. Lewis the justice that he deserves.”

ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlfnp7j21ma2tfmLWiusSlZKWdp57AbrPErapmpJmbsm61zWanq6GjpLtuw8itn6itpGK9or7OpZxmnp%2Bneq7B0Z2cq2Wfm3qsrdGipZplpprBs63NqGY%3D

 Share!