Chantel Lewis, 20, reportedly told cops he was in a bad mood on the day of the murder.
Police said that the accused killer of Queens jogger Karina Vetrano said he strangled the woman because he "was angry."
Chanel Lewis told cops he was in a bad mood on the day of the murder, authorities told the New York Post.
"I was angry," said Lewis, according to police sources. "I had some issues at home. I just lost it. When I saw her, I just hit her and kept hitting her. I hit her and choked her,’"
Lewis' Sunday arraignment was tense as the victim's parents — and the father of the suspect — spoke out a day after an arrest finally came in the high-profile case.
For Vetrano's mother, speaking out came in the form of impassioned outbursts in Queens Criminal Court where Lewis was arraigned and ordered held without bail Sunday evening in the murder.
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"Savage murderer! He murdered my daughter — my beautiful, innocent daughter," the bereaved mother screamed out as Lewis was led from the courtroom.
Vetrano later exclaimed: "He's a demon! He's a demon!"
Meanwhile, outside the courtroom, Lewis's father told reporters that his son wouldn't possibly have committed this heinous crime that has captivated America since Vetrano's father discovered her body hours after her disappearance in August.
"He has never done anything nothing in his whole life," Richard Lewis said Sunday. "He wouldn't have done it."
Lewis, 20, of East New York, was taken into custody for questioning Saturday after police said DNA evidence found on Vetrano’s body and cell phone linked Lewis to the crime scene.
"Karina helped us identify this person," chief of detectives, Robert K. Boyce, said at a press conference Sunday. "She had the DNA under her nails, she had touch DNA on her back and there was more DNA on the cell phone. That’s how we were able to bring the profile up and that’s how we made the link.”
Police also said that Lewis made "detailed, incriminating statements and admission" during questioning.
According to police, investigators were able to create a suspect profile based on a 911 call that placed Lewis in the Howard beach area months before the murder.
Lewis also reportedly has multiple summonses from the Howard Beach area, particularly on the bicycle path that leads to the entrance to the park from the East New York side.
Vetrano, 30, was found dead in a marshy area of Spring Creek Park by police and her father after she had been raped and strangled on August 2 while out on a solo run.
Her father repeatedly tried to call her cell phone while she was out and after two hours grew worried and called police.
They found her body hours later.
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Vetrano’s parents, Phillip and Cathy, said they were relieved at the identification.
“The demon must get his justice,” Cathy reportedly told the New York Daily News. “We will see to it.”
“I’m not going to say it is a good day but we can move forward now,” he said. “We know who did this,” Phillip added.
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