The Pennsylvania man who killed his mother-of-four Uber driver has been sentenced to life behind bars without parole for the brutal murder.
Calvin Crew, 25, was sentenced on Monday to life without parole for the 2022 slaying of Christina Spicuzza.
Harrowing dashboard camera footage showed the 38-year-old mother-of-four begging for her life when Crew put a gun to her head after she picked him up for a ride.
Crew was convicted of first-degree murder in February and faced the death penalty, reported WTAE.
However, Spicuzza’s family asked that he be spared and the murderer was sentenced to life, with an additional 13 to 26 years for kidnapping and robbery charges.
‘You should have the death penalty but we showed mercy,’ said Spicuzza’s mother, Cindy Spicuzza. ‘You executed her. No mercy, no remorse. It was abhorrent. It was murder.’
Crew was not in the courtroom for sentencing at his own request, and his defense attorney said his client maintains his innocence and plans to appeal, according to KDKA.
‘No reason other than a coward. A coward who couldn’t be here today to face this,’ said Spicuzza’s life partner, Brandon Marto.
Calvin Crew (pictured), 25, was sentenced on Monday to life without parole for the 2022 slaying of his Uber driver
Mother-of-four and Uber driver Christina Spicuzza (pictured), 38, was shot dead after picking up Crew for a ride
Harrowing dashboard camera footage showed Spicuzza begging for her life when Crew put a gun to her head
Spicuzza is remembered as a loving mother who was always trying to spread joy, according to her obituary.
‘Christi was first and foremost a loving mother. She also enjoyed art, crafting, and her bible study,’ her family said.
‘Anyone who knew Christi knew her smile could light up every room she was in. No matter what was going on in her life, Christi was always smiling, always positive, and always loving.’
Police said Crew used his girlfriend’s phone to order the Uber on February 10, 2022, then held a gun to Spicuzza’s head and told her to keep driving.
She reached back four seconds after the gun was raised to her head, felt the weapon, and incredulously said ‘you’ve got to be joking,’ according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Crew told her again to keep driving, and she told him that she had a family: ‘I’m begging you. I have four kids.’
‘I got a family too,’ Crew retorted. ‘Now drive.’
Repeatedly, he told her to ‘complete the trip.’ She asked him multiple times to put the gun down, but he kept it pointed at the back of her neck.
Crew was facing the death penalty, but Spicuzza’s family (pictured) asked that he be spared and the murderer was sentenced to life
Spicuzza was found dead with a single gunshot wound to the back of her head and a 9mm shell casing near her body in a wooded area
‘Please take that off of me,’ she said. He reached up into the front seat and grabbed her phone from the dashboard, according to the complaint.
‘Do what I say and everything will be all right,’ he told her.
The video cuts after Crew grabs Spicuzza’s dash cam and turns it off, the complaint alleges. It is unclear what happened next, although the ride ended with the driver’s brutal murder.
During the drive, according to the complaint, Crew’s girlfriend sent him a message saying, ‘[I’m] not going to jail if we get caught.’
Spicuzza was found dead with a single gunshot wound to the back of her head and a 9mm shell casing near her body in a wooded area near the 500 block of Rosecrest Drive.
Ultimately, Spicuzza’s dashboard camera was recovered one-tenth of a mile from the spot where she picked up Crew, and police viewed the footage from a mini SD card in the camera, which recorded audio and video from the front and back of the car, court documents state.
Crew is an ex-convict who was not allowed to possess a firearm, according to the criminal complaint, due to serious offenses he committed as a juvenile.
Days before the homicide warrant was filed he was arrested by the Northern Regional Police Department for a felony related to the sale and transfer of firearms and a misdemeanor of falsification to authorities.
That case was filed for crimes that authorities allege took place on September 10, 2020.
