Chanel Petro-Nixon

Chanel Petro-Nixon was born in mid-1989 and lived in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York, with her father Anthony Garvin, her mother Lucita Nixon, and her brothers Marcus and Giovanni.

She was a member of the Mt. of Olives Seventh-day Adventist Church on Bushwick Avenue and was considered devout by her family based on her church and prayer attendance.

Chanel Petro-Nixon was an American teenager who was strangled to death in Brooklyn, New York, United States in 2006.

On Sunday, June 18, 2006, Petro-Nixon left her family's home, telling them she was walking to the Applebee's restaurant near New York Avenue and Fulton Street, to meet a friend.

She never returned home.

Four days later, her body was discovered in a trash bag in front of 212 Kingston Avenue.

It was determined that Petro-Nixon had been strangled.

Petro-Nixon was buried at Rosedale and Rosehill Cemetery, located in Linden, New Jersey.

Following his daughter's murder, Anthony Garvin was quoted as saying: "I don't trust anybody [...] That person shaking your hand, smiling in your face, could be the one who did this."

Petro-Nixon's mother, Lucita, took a different viewpoint stating, "I won't let anger poison me".

A teenage friend of Petro-Nixon's said: "She would never do anything wrong."

The friend also said that two had read The Da Vinci Code together and that Petro-Nixon was a good student: "She had good grades. I would call her the 'little nerd.'"

Petro-Nixon's parents made a plea to the public requesting help finding her killer.

They also visited the site where she was found.

On July 7, 2006, the Brooklyn Branch of the N.A.A.C.P. sent a letter to Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly requesting a meeting.

The letter mentioned "increasing rates of crime", "inadequate police response", and the murder of Petro-Nixon.

Police quickly appealed to the public for information, offering an initial reward of $12,000 for useful information.

At a later date, the reward amount was increased, ultimately reaching $38,000.

The fund represents contributions by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, The New York Daily News, The Reverend Al Sharpton, and the New York City Police Department.

No one has claimed the reward.

The New York City Police Department interviewed all of Petro-Nixon's friends and collected hundreds of tips.

An article in the New York Daily News focused on Petro-Nixon's white sneakers, with the hope that someone would have recognized her shoes.

"Cops hope a photo of 16-year-old Chanel Petro-Nixon's white and pink retro jordan sneakers will jog a witness' memory and help investigators track down the Brooklyn girl's killer."

David Stein, head of the detective squad working the case, was quoted as saying, "You see a case like this maybe once in a career."

She was also an 11th grader at Boys and Girls High School, and was known as a straight-A student who spent her after-school hours in the library.

According to Nancy Grace of CNN, "She wanted to become a nurse to help other people".

In 2016, Veron Primus was charged with the murder.

In June 2016, Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson announced that former Crown Heights resident Veron Primus had been formally charged with Petro-Nixon's murder.

Primus had been a school friend of Petro-Nixon's and it was later found that he was the friend she was meeting at Applebee's on the day she disappeared.

It was reported that he was considered a suspect from day one, but there had not been enough evidence to lead to an arrest.

Some years after Petro-Nixon's murder, Primus had also served time in prison for violating a restraining order and was deported to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, following his release.

In 2016, while in St. Vincent, he became a suspect in the abduction of one woman and the murder of another.

While investigating these crimes, St. Vincent authorities found new evidence linking Primus to Petro-Nixon's murder.

They contacted New York investigators, who traveled to the island and were then able to issue an indictment.

, Primus is being held in St. Vincent, awaiting trial for the unrelated murder of a 33-year-old estate agent named Sharleen Greaves.

Thompson stated that he wished for Primus to be returned to the United States and stand trial for Petro-Nixon's murder.

Murder statistics compiled by the NYPD and obtained by the New York Daily News mentioned Petro-Nixon.

Another murder which occurred on the same day as Petro-Nixon's was mentioned, and there was speculation that both murders may be related.

New York Daily News columnist Errol Louis, who tried to keep the story 'alive' in the press, reported that there was an upward spike in murder in Crown Heights by 122%, and that community meetings were being held by Assemblyman Karim Camara.

Petro-Nixon's mother was quoted in a New York Times story, related to the case: "We try our best to keep it alive."