NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — When a husband is found responsible for the death of his wife, what happens to the bond between the two families?

That soul-searching dilemma lies in the wake of Thursday’s guilty verdict for Adrian Lewis, convicted in the death of Shanita Eure-Lewis.

Andrea Lewis, younger sister of Adrian, said she wants the bond between the Lewis and Eure families to endure. She says the marriage brought together two families devout in their faith.

“We want to proceed as a family united by love, and not a family that’s divided by loss,” Andrea said in a Thursday interview with 10 On Your Side shortly after the jury’s verdict.

She said she prays for closure for everyone involved, and her love for her brother is unchanged.

“When someone does something, right or wrong, it doesn’t change how you feel about who they are to you,” Andrea Lewis said. “That is still my brother. Shanita was not just my sister-in-law, but like a sister to me. When two people join in marriage, they create one large family, and I want to proceed as still one large family.”

But she didn’t want to offer any theories about what really happened to Shanita, whose body has never been found.

“No one knows what goes on between a husband and a wife but God,” she said. “I pray for Shanita and her mother, her children, and her family. I’m also praying for Adrian and our family.”

Adrian Lewis was convicted of first-degree murder, but was found not guilty of a firearm charge. He faces from 20 years to life in prison at sentencing in January.