Man indicted for decade-old murder of Brooklyn high school student: DA

The family of 16-year-old Chanel Petro-Nixon — whose murder has remained unsolved since her body was discovered inside a garbage bag days after she went missing in 2006 — is one step closer to getting justice.

Together with the NYPD, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced Wednesday that 29-year-old Veron Primus, formerly of Brooklyn, is being indicted for the murder of the honor student.

“Ten years ago, a promising young woman’s life was tragically taken, leaving her family and the community searching for answers,” Thompson said. “My office remained steadfast in our search for justice and with this indictment, we will ensure that the defendant is brought back to Brooklyn and held accountable for the death of Chanel Petro-Nixon.”

Primus — who, according to PIX11 New York, was deported to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2015 following his prison sentence for violating an order of protection of an ex-girlfriend — will be indicted on one count of second-degree murder. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

According to Thompson, Petro-Nixon was last seen alive on Father’s Day — June 18, 2006 — after leaving her parents’ home in Bedford-Stuyvesant to go visit a friend..

The teen was reported missing on June 19 after not returning home, prosecutors said. On June 22, a local Crown Heights resident discovered Petro-Nixon’s body inside a trash bag after Department of Sanitation workers refused to take the bag because they said it was oversized. The teen appeared to have been strangled.

Investigators discovered that Petro-Nixon had allegedly said she would later be meeting up with Primus.

According to PIX 11, Primus has been held in a prison in St. Vincent since April 21 after he was accused of fatally stabbing a woman last year, just months after returning to his home country.

Authorities will now seek extradition for Primus to return him to Brooklyn so he can be arraigned.

“This indictment is a testament to the fact that neither time nor distance will stop our investigators and prosecutors from the pursuit of justice,” said NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.