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New York police have arrested Jerry Lewis from Virginia, in the 31-year-old cold case killing of a teenager Nadine Slade from Queens. In 1992, the victim was found naked and strangled to death with her bra. Lewis stands accused of murder in the second degree and was indicted and arraigned on May 1, as per the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
According to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, DNA test results linked Lewis to the crime, Law&Crime reported.
Authorities revealed that 15-year-old Nadine was discovered by her mother in a shared bathroom in her multi-family home in Far Rockaway. Reportedly, the night before the teenager died, the alleged suspect was in the next flat with a shared bathroom. Neither of the two knew each other.
Lewis has pleaded not guilty to the charges. However, if convicted, he could face up to 25 years to life in prison.
How New York PD reopened a 31-year-old case and arrested Jerry Lewis
Nadine Slade’s mother found her daughter’s naked body in a shared bathroom in a multi-family home in Far Rockaway, Queens, on May 7, 1992. The alleged suspect, Jerry Lewis, and others had been inside the adjoining apartment, which shared the same bathroom, on the night before the murder.
It has been over three decades since the case went cold, but last year, the Queens District Attorney’s office and the New York Police Department reopened the case and requested genetic testing of DNA with the help of Slade's preserved fingernail clippings. Officials found the suspect's DNA in CODIS, a nationwide DNA database maintained by the FBI.
Authorities revealed that the results of that DNA evidence tied Lewis to the crime, NBC New York reported.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement :
"Any mother’s worst nightmare is to survive a child. To lose a child in such a horrific way causes unimaginable pain. Not knowing who committed the crime compounds the suffering. In the end, we hope to achieve justice for Nadine and bring closure and some measure of solace to her bereaved mother."
Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder has ordered Jerry Lewis of Shawsville, Virginia, to return to court for another hearing on June 7. According to the New York Daily News, the judge overseeing the case pointed out that Lewis has long used several aliases.
At least six people were assigned to the team investigating the case, and multiple witnesses were interviewed and several records were extensively searched.
The 58-year-old is being held without bail.
Several of Slade's relatives were present during the initial court proceedings in New York, with the murdered girl's brother watching and her sister crying throughout the hearing.
Slade's brother told the New York Daily News that the family was glad that Lewis was in custody.
