The incident occurred on May 7, 1992. Her mother discovered Slade’s body in a
bathroom shared by two apartments in the multi-family home in Far Rockaway, an
aptly-named and far-flung beachside community near Brooklyn and the Atlantic
Ocean. It is considered the easternmost part of the Rockaway peninsula. Lewis
“and others” had been inside the adjoining apartment – the one that used the
same bathroom – the night before the murder, according to the DA’s office. The
victim and her alleged killer are not believed to have known one another before
the murder. Cold for years, the case was recently reopened by the DA’s office and the NYPD. Last year, the
joint investigation requested the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office to
test for DNA under the victim’s preserved fingernail clippings. That genetic
testing was the break that had long eluded law enforcement.
According to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, the DNA test results linked Lewis to
the crime. In response to an inquiry from Law&Crime, a spokesperson for the
DA’s office said the defendant’s DNA turned up in CODIS, a nationwide DNA database maintained by the FBI. The
defendant is being held without bail. After his arraignment, Queens Supreme
Court Justice Kenneth Holder ordered Lewis to return to court for another
hearing on June 7. If convicted as currently charged, Lewis faces up to 25
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