"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/suspect-arrested-in-1996-cold-case-crockett-murder-of-priscilla-lewis/"

CROCKETT (CBS SF) -- An inmate serving time for sexual assault charges in a Southern California prison has been charged with the 1996 cold case murder of Priscilla Lewis, whose body was found in the restroom of the Crockett restaurant where she worked as a waitress.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff Department announced Thursday that 51-year-old Danny Lamont Hamilton was being held on murder charges with four special enhancements -- murder by lying in wait, felony murder kidnapping, felony murder burglary and felony murder during an attempted rape.
Investigators said that on September 24, 1996, Lewis -- a 21-year-old resident of Vallejo -- was working as a waitress at the Four Corners restaurant located at 628 2nd Avenue in Crockett.
The cook at the restaurant called 911 shortly before 10:30 p.m. after finding her body in the basement bathroom. The cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning.
Since that time, sheriff detectives have continued the investigation interviewing dozens of people while the crime lab analyzed numerous pieces of evidence. Several search warrants were also served. Despite persistent investigation for over two decades, the case remained unsolved.
In 2020, detectives submitted additional evidence to the crime lab to be tested using current technology. A DNA match came back to that of Hamilton.
He was incarcerated at the Martinez Detention Facility from 1999-2002 for unrelated sexual assault charges. He was later convicted of those charges and sentenced to prison for 295 years.
Hamilton is currently serving his term at a state prison near San Diego.
"I would like to recognize the many sheriff's office homicide detectives and crime lab staff for their dedication and relentless work in the murder of Priscilla Lewis in 1996," said Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston in a news release. "We continue to investigate unsolved homicides in an effort to provide families, like that of Priscilla Lewis, with answers and some closure and to hold suspects accountable."
Homicide detectives were continuing to investigate the case.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office Investigation Division at (925) 313-2600 or through Sheriff's Office dispatch at (925) 646-2441. For any tips, email: [email protected] or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.

"https://eastcountytoday.net/crockett-cold-case-priscilla-lewis-murder/"

Priscilla Ann Lewis was murdered on September 24, 1996, in Crockett. The 21-year-old, who lived in Vallejo, worked as a waitress at Four Corners Pizza located at 628 2nd Avenue in Crockett. The cook at the restaurant called 9-1-1 shortly before 10:30 pm after finding Priscilla's body in the basement bathroom. The cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation.
The men's and women's bathrooms were located in the basement of the Valona Square Mall that consisted of four businesses at that time.
Detectives interviewed dozens of people during this investigation and examined numerous pieces of evidence. The case remains unsolved.
A candle-lighting service and prayer in her memory will be held Saturday, September 21, 2019, 5 PM—9 PM, at 628 2nd Avenue in Crockett.
The case remains open. Anyone with information regarding Priscilla's murder is encouraged to contact the Office of the Sheriff Homicide Unit at 925-313-2630. For any tips, please email: [email protected] or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
Information provided by Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

Crockett Remembers Slain Waitress Willow planted in her honor -- reward at $60,000

Suzanne Espinosa Solis, Chronicle East Bay Bureau

Tuesday, December 10, 1996

Priscilla Lewis was known to most Crockett residents as the perky, hard-working waitress at Four Corners Pizza restaurant at the town's run- down Valona Square mall.

Her murder in the mall's lonely basement the night of September 24 became Crockett's only homicide this year -- a brutal, unsolved slaying that has chilled this gritty old industrial town.

Throughout Crockett, which is in the shadow of Interstate 80 and the Carquinez Bridge, posters announce reward money for information leading to her killer or killers. People wear buttons displaying the 21-year-old Lewis' picture as they walk through the town's narrow two-block center of aging antique stores, boutiques and mom-and-pop restaurants.

Last week, Tosco, an oil refiner that recently announced plans to buy the Unocal refinery in nearby Rodeo, chipped in $25,000 to the reward fund. Unocal already had offered its own $25,000, and with several thousand dollars raised from a restaurant counter-top jar, the reward fund now stands at nearly $60,000.

At Willow School, the continuation high school where she graduated, teachers, co- workers and community members planted a willow tree last week in memory of Lewis, and people took turns making speeches.

''I remember her as a pretty, blue-eyed little girl,'' said Contra Costa Sheriff's Lieutenant Ovid Holmes, whose daughter grew up and went to school with Lewis.

Lewis had her share of problems growing up in a tough part of town but was working hard and getting her life together, saving money to buy a house, Holmes said.

Holmes has investigated homicides for 25 years and was stunned to receive a phone call informing him of Lewis' strangulation.

At the Four Corners restaurant, a memorial sits just outside the entrance. Flowers, dried and plastic, decorate a table along with cards, letters and mementos left by customers who knew the young woman. A picture of Lewis hangs on the wall. Inside the pizza parlor, another picture hangs over the coffee pot.

Business is down since the murder. ''Maybe people feel kind of weird coming back here,'' said waitress Wendy Williams, who worked with Lewis.

Lewis was killed just before the restaurant closed September 24 inside a public ladies' room on the dimly lit basement level of Valona Square mall, a run-down musty building that was once a family-owned department store and now is listed for sale.

The mall rest rooms are open to anybody who enters the building, which houses the pizza parlor, a video store, a construction office, a candy store and a dance studio. About half the building remains vacant. The building has three entrances and three stairwells, each narrow and long, leading to the basement level, which is isolated and largely vacant.

One of the stairwells is located in the back of the pizza parlor.

''It's creepy down there,'' Williams said of the basement level. ''We never went down there to use the rest room. We would go across the street to the bar. I think she was snagged and dragged down those stairs.''

Williams pointed down the narrow staircase covered with worn carpet.

''I don't go down there at all anymore,'' she said, shuddering.

Lewis' body was found by a cook who checked the basement rest room when Lewis failed to return from what workers thought was a break.

''At this point, we have no suspects,'' said Contra Costa Sheriff's Lieutenant Tom Moore.

This article appeared on page A - 17 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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Waitress, 21, Found Slain In Bathroom

Friday, September 27, 1996

Crockett -- Authorities are investigating the slaying of a woman whose body was found in the bathroom of the pizza parlor where she worked.

Priscilla Ann Lewis, 21, apparently struggled with her attacker before she was killed, according to Lieutenant Tom Moore of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department.

The Vallejo woman was a waitress at the Four Corners Pizza-N- Pasta on Second Avenue.

The homicide was reported shortly before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday by a restaurant cook, authorities said. Several businesses share the basement bathroom.

No suspects have been arrested. Investigators are seeking to interview customers who were inside the restaurant at about the time of the slaying.

This article appeared on page A - 24 of the San Francisco Chronicle