The sister of Karina Vetrano’s accused killer said Monday that her sibling was framed—and that he was only arrested because he’s black.
“I think the cops framed him because he’s a black person. They couldn’t find anyone else to pin this on, so they pinned it on my brother,” Theresa Forbes, 36, told reporters.
Forbes’s half-brother, Chanel Lewis, 20, was charged Sunday with murdering the Queens jogger in August based on DNA evidence and two videotaped confessions, authorities and law-enforcement sources have said.
Asked about the alleged forensic evidence against her sibling, Forbes said,“The DNA lies sometimes. They wanted to get confirmation so they framed him for murder.
“My family, we are God-fearing people. The Bible tells us ‘Do no kill’—we do not kill,” she said.
As for her sibling’s alleged confessions, “I think they coerced him into a confession. They tricked him,” Forbes added.
“I’m sorry for [the victim’s family’s] loss, but they have the wrong person in custody,” Forbes said.
She added that her brother “did not have any problem with women.”
“He has nieces, and he played with them,” Forbes told reporters.
She said his behavioral issues in high school consisted of “regular stuff. He made regular problems.”