A cellphone belonging to the accused killer of Queens jogger Karina Vetrano turned up web searches featuring her photo, the crime scene – and information on the Sacrament of Penance, jurors heard Tuesday.
The cellphone, a black ZTE model, was recovered from the dresser in the bedroom of 20-year-old Chanel Lewis, who admitted to randomly killing the 30-year-old woman in August 2016 because he was “mad at her,” authorities have said.
NYPD Detective Josue Rivera of the department’s Computer Crimes Squad analyzed the phone and detailed the searches he found on the device during his testimony at Lewis’ murder trial in Queens Supreme Court.
Rivera testified that 137 case-related report histories were pulled from the cellphone after it was recovered Feb. 5, 2017 – a day after Lewis was busted in the killing.
Among the cached images related to web searches taken from the phone were two photos of Vetrano and a snapshot of the crime scene in Spring Creek Park in the Howard Beach neighborhood where Vetrano’s beaten body was found by her father.
The phone also showed two searches for the Roman Catholic sacrament – as well as others related to the legal process and constitutional rights.
The user of the phone also Googled the word “arraignment” and looked up news articles about familial DNA testing, which uses genetic material from relatives to nail a suspect, a forensic process that was championed by Vetrano’s parents.
In addition, the cellphone included a photograph of a hand injury. The accused murderer has admitted that when he punched Vetrano, he hurt his hand on her teeth.
But Lewis’ Legal Aid lawyer, Julia Burke, asked Rivera, “You don’t know whose hand is pictured?”
Rivera replied: “Correct.”
Lewis faces life in prison if convicted on charges of murder and sexual abuse.