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Miss Delaware carries pain of Camden County murder case

Brittany Lewis is competing in Miss America Pageant, focusing on domestic-violence issues after sister's 2010 murder.

Miss Delaware Brittany Lewis introduces herself during the parade of states at the first night of preliminary competition at the Miss America competition at Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, N.J., Tuesday, Sept 9, 2014. (AP Photo/The Press of Atlantic City, Edward Lea)
Miss Delaware Brittany Lewis introduces herself during the parade of states at the first night of preliminary competition at the Miss America competition at Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, N.J., Tuesday, Sept 9, 2014. (AP Photo/The Press of Atlantic City, Edward Lea)Read moreAP
    by BY JASON NARK, Daily News Staff Writer| <a href="mailto:narkj@phillynews.com">narkj@phillynews.com</a>, 215-854-5916
    Published 

TEARS WILL BE shed Sunday night along the Atlantic City Boardwalk when one lucky lady is crowned Miss America.

For Miss Delaware's family, win or lose, tears will flow - joyous tears for Brittany Lewis beaming up on the stage, and tears for her sister Gina Clarke-Lewis, who was slain in Camden County in 2010.

"She's keeping Gina's memory alive just by being up there," Brenda Lewis said of her daughter.

Brittany Lewis, 24, is about as close as it gets to a hometown favorite, having grown up a few miles away, across the inlet in Brigantine. In a brief interview from Atlantic City yesterday, she told the Daily News that her sister's story had inspired her to make "domestic-violence awareness" her official platform issue for the pageant.

"I think the reason I'm even here is because of Gina," she said. "She's still watching over me."

Gina Clarke-Lewis was 27, a few months from graduating from Temple, when she picked up food on her way home from her waitressing job at Cibo Bistro and Wine Bar at Philadelphia International Airport on the night of March 26, 2010.

She was just outside the door of her apartment in Lindenwold, N.J., when a gunman ran up the stairs and shot her.

Her case remains unsolved, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said, although family and friends have always suspected that an ex-boyfriend was involved.

Clarke-Lewis had filed restraining orders against him and he allegedly sent her 100 text messages the day she died.

The Daily News interviewed that man in the summer of 2010, and he denied being involved in the murder.

"We argued a lot, like everyone else," he said at the time. "Some people are quick to call the cops."

Brittany Lewis, a Temple graduate who lives in Wilmington, said she hopes to get more involved in domestic-violence issues for college-age women - ideally as Miss America.

"This has helped me cope with what's happened," she said of the pageant.

Brenda Lewis said all the glamour and swimsuits have been helpful distractions. She still lives in Brigantine with her husband, Willie, and said close to 1,000 family, friends and former neighbors could be in Boardwalk Hall to cheer her daughter on.

"It's all part of our family's healing process," Brenda said. "Brittany's not just allowing Gina's death to pass in vain."