Cousin finds closure after 25-year-old Crockett murder case solved
Cousin finds closure after 25-year-old Crockett murder case solved
A 25-year-old cold case out of Contra Costa County has finally been solved. Homicide detectives say DNA evidence identified the killer of a woman who worked at a pizza restaurant in Crockett when she was killed. Family and friends say they finally have some closure.
CROCKETT, Calif. - Troy Kinslow of Vallejo said he and was extremely close with his cousin Priscilla Lewis. They grew up together and even lived in the same house in Port Costa during their childhood. He said the loved to ride horses together. "I was her protector," said Kinslow. "I was like her big brother because we grew up together in the same house.
Kinslow last saw his cousin during her lunch break on September 24, 1996. Lewis worked as a waitress at Four Corners Pizza N Pasta in Crockett. Later that night, Lewis was found dead in the basement bathroom below the restaurant. Her cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning. She was just 21.
Kinslow said her death shattered their family and the case went cold for decades. There were times he thought they would never find her killer. "It’s been rough. It's been a long road. There's been times when I quit," said Kinslow.
Now, 25 years later, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office says detectives solved the case. Authorities used advanced DNA technology. They submitted evidence to a crime lab last year and this week it matched with 51-year-old Danny Lamont Hamilton. Hamilton is already serving time at a prison in San Diego for sexual assault charges unrelated to this case.
Kinslow and his wife Tracey Bozeman met us in the same pizza parlor where his cousin was last see and told me for the first time, they have closure. "When something happens that's been this long. It's closure for me. It doesn’t bring her back. It will never bring her back but for me, it's closure," said Kinslow.
"It’s a real close community. And everybody around here, there’s a lot of people that are still here when she was murdered," said Bozeman.
Hamilton is being charged with murder and numerous enhancements including kidnapping and lying in wait.
Authorities have not revealed a motive.