Candlelight Vigil For East Bay Woman Murdered 23 Years Ago Whose Case Remains Unsolved
CROCKETT (KPIX) - Twenty-three years ago, a murder terrified a small community in Crockett and still haunts many to this day. That's when 21-year-old Priscilla Lewis was brutally murdered and the case remains unsolved.
Saturday night, family and friends gathered for a candlelight vigil. For some family members, it was the first time they have been able to come back to the crime scene where Lewis was murdered more than 2 decades ago.
They say it's just been too painful to relive that day, but with her killer still on the loose, the family felt the need to come together to find some justice for Lewis.
"This community was rocked by it there was like a black cloud over this town. It was bad," says Lewis' cousin, Troy Kinslow.
On September 24, 1996, Priscilla Lewis was working the Four Corner's Pizza restaurant. When she didn't return from her break, the cook went searching for her and found her brutally murdered in a basement bathroom.
Kinslow graphically details the murder saying, "She was beat, her neck was broken, her neck was strangled and her face was in the toilet."
For 23 years, investigators with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department have chased one lead after another. But with no arrests made, the family felt the need to bring more attention to her case.
They held a candlelight vigil, released balloons and shared fond memories of Lewis. Those who knew her say they are not surprised by the turnout. It was standing room only at her funeral and it goes to show how much she was loved by this community.
Family and friends have their suspicions on who may have taken Priscilla's life, just not the evidence. At least not yet.
"She was a great kind person but she was a fighter. There has to be DNA. There's absolutely no way the she didn't fight for her life," says Lewis's Friend, Jennifer Sylvestre.
Amanda Jenkins adds, "We need to know what happened, why he would do this to such a beautiful person she didn't deserve it."
An investigator with the Contra County Sheriff's Department was at the vigil, talking with those who knew her. He urges anyone with information to come forward.